A Ronmantic Proposal
by Pinky Jo Curlytail
Summary: Ron's ready to pop the question, but with Drakken and Shego up to their old tricks—and a few new ones—will he ever get the chance?
1. Prologue

_Disclaimer: Kim Possible and all related character are property of Disney, and my use of them is for entertainment purposes only._

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><p><strong>Prologue<strong>

After nearly four years of sitting uninhabited, Lord Montgomery Fiske's castle, and everything in it, was coated top to bottom in a fine layer of dust.

_And who knows how much monkey dandruff_, Shego thought.

She dropped another stack of books onto the table in front of Drakken, sending up a cloud of dust that launched them both into a coughing fit.

Shego scowled at him once she was finally able to breathe again. "Remind me again _why_ we're doing this?"

"What do you mean?" Drakken asked grumpily, covering his mouth and nose as he flipped one of the books open. "It was _your_ idea, remember?"

"Noooo," Shego said, as if she was talking to a particularly stupid child. "_I_ just said that there's no way I'm going to risk my neck going up against Kim Possible again unless we find a way to take the monkey-powered boyfriend down a peg first. And if there is a way, there's no place we're more likely to find it than here in Lord Monkey Statue's library." She paused and glared at him. "_You're_ the one who wanted to get back into the villain thing in the first place."

"Because _you_ keep complaining that our relationship is in a rut!" Drakken shot back.

Shego blinked at him. "Wait a minute, so let me get this straight." She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I say we're in a rut, so you're going to get us out of the rut by... going back to what we used to do?"

"Nnngh, yes, well, when you put it like that it sounds stupid—"

"You got that right," she muttered.

"But we haven't done the 'villain thing' in years, and it _is_ what we were doing when we first..." He waved his hands weakly in the air. What he wanted to say, of course, was "fell in love," but... he wasn't very good at this sort of thing, and he didn't think that Shego would appreciate it much anyway, so he just let his sentence trail off. "Anyway, do you have any better ideas?"

Shego just glared at him for a moment, then slumped down into the chair next to him and pulled the next book from the top of the stack. Drakken knew that was as close as she was ever going to get to admitting that she did not, in fact, have any better ideas. But, knowing better than to gloat at her, he turned back to his own book and they both fell into silence.

"Wait a minute," Shego said suddenly, and Drakken cringed. Maybe she did have a better idea after all. But when he turned to face her again, he saw that she was not staring back at him but gazing intently at the book in front of her.

"What is it?" he asked, standing up from his chair and leaning over her shoulder.

Shego pointed at the page. "This just might do the trick."

Drakken's eyes widened as he read the description of the object pictured in the ancient book. "Yes, Shego! This is perfect!" He surprised her by wrapping his arms around her from behind and hugging her.

She surprised _herself_ by realizing that his sudden excitement made her feel... happy. Maybe he was right—maybe this _was_ what they were missing...

"Now we just need to find out where it is..."

_To be continued..._

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><p><em>Author's Note: One year ago I waded into the KP fanfic waters with my first, very short, story, "Kim Stoppable." To celebrate, I thought I'd put up something longer—a whole 172 words longer! Seriously, though, next week there <span>will<span> be an honest-to-goodness kind of long (at least for me) chapter. The first of many. _

_I've had this much longer story percolating in my head since even before I posted my first story, so it's wonderful to finally get to start sharing it. I'd like to thank everyone who has read and reviewed my stories over the last year; your support was a great encouragement in helping me to feel ready to take on a longer work when NaNoWriMo rolled around._

_And special thanks to Slipgate, for his friendship and beta services, in that order._


	2. Home Again

_Disclaimer: You know the drill. KP and crew belong to Disney, not me._

_Thanks once again to Slipgate for beta help!  
><em>

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><p><strong>Chapter One: Home Again<strong>

Ron leaned against the trunk of the giant oak tree in his parents' backyard, watching idly as his little sister Hana sparred with Jim and Tim Possible and Wade Load. Naturally, the four-year-old was giving the three teenagers a thorough beating. Ron grinned, crossing his arms behind his head and enjoying the feel of the August sun shining on his face.

For Ron, this summer had been mostly dismal. But today he was actually feeling pretty good about life—in no small part because tomorrow Kim was coming home.

Earlier in the year, Kim had been offered the opportunity to spend the summer studying at the University of Oslo in Norway. At the time, Ron had enthusiastically encouraged her to take it, though he had neither the grades nor the funds to go along. There was a small part of him that still felt guilty for keeping her from studying overseas full time as she had originally planned to do. Though Go City University was a good school, and Kim often reassured him that after the Lorwardian sitch she didn't _want_ to put thousands of miles between herself and everyone she loved again, he still worried that she was missing out on something because of him, and this had seemed like a small way to give it back to her.

It had turned out to be more of a sacrifice than he anticipated. The last two months were the longest time he and Kim had ever spent apart; even the waking nightmare of Wannaweep had only been six weeks. And despite a lack of monkey mascots, rabid squirrels or poison ivy, somehow this summer had felt even more torturous than that one long ago. Ron grinned a little, wondering if Kim would think it was weirdly romantic if he told her that a summer without KP kisses was worse than a summer with Gil—or even Gill.

But, at least tomorrow it would all be over—which meant that today was dragging by even more slowly than the rest of the summer had, of course, but let it. Nothing could get Ron Stoppable down today. He had too many happy plans running through his head. Tomorrow morning he would go to the airport with the Doctors Possible to pick Kim up. And tomorrow night... His hand drifted unconsciously down toward his right hip, before he remembered that his gi didn't have pockets and that he'd left the item he'd been reaching for upstairs on his nightstand, with Rufus napping nearby.

"Ron!" Wade's sudden cry snapped him out of his daydream. "A little help here, please?"

Ron looked up to see that Hana's teenage opponents had been successfully subdued. Quite successfully. The four-year-old had all three of them lying prone on the ground, each with an arm stretched awkwardly behind his back to keep him pinned in place. Any little attempted movement caused them to wince and cry out in pain.

Doing his best not to laugh, Ron pushed away from the tree trunk and stood up straight. "Okay, Hana, you can let them go now." He winked at her and mouthed, "Show-off."

His little sister giggled and obediently released the three boys' arms, eliciting a trio of relieved groans from the teens. Ron raised an eyebrow at her and she straightened up, her merriment immediately giving way to seriousness, as if a switch had been flicked. Satisfied, Ron bowed, and Hana mirrored the gesture, her gaze never breaking from his.

Now released from the protocols of their art, brother and sister shared a grin. "Booyah!" Ron exclaimed as Hana skipped happily over to him. "Nice job little sis! Gimme five." He held up his hand, palm out, and she slapped it as hard as she could—which was hard enough to knock Ron off of his feet. He was laughing even as his backside hit the ground.

"Someone's in a good mood today," Jim grumbled, as he and Tim helped pull each other to their feet.

"That's because _he's_ not getting beat up by Hana," Tim said, brushing grass off of his gi.

Ron stood back up. "You guys do realize that you're whining about having to fight against a little girl, right?"

"Yeah," Wade said, "a little girl with super ninja powers."

"Details." Ron waved a hand dismissively, still grinning. "Anyway, you guys are the ones who wanted me to get you in shape so Kim would let you start going on the big missions. No better way to prove to her that you can handle super-villains than showing that you can handle a four-year-old super ninja."

Jim stretched, groaning. "If that's the case, I'm starting to rethink the importance of impressing Kim."

"Yeah," Tim said. "Why don't we just get Wade to send us the big missions without even going through her. What Kim doesn't know..."

"Woah," Wade said, waving his hands. "Sorry, guys, but I don't cross Kim."

"Aw, come on, Wade!"

"Yeah, whose side are you on, anyway?"

"Um, my own?" he said. "I'd like to live to see adulthood."

"Fine," the twins said in unison, crossing their arms and sighing.

"But I think we've had enough 'training' for one day," Jim said.

"Yeah," said Tim. "How about you show us what _you_ can do, Monkey Master."

"Yeah, come on, Ron! Give us a little demonstration," Jim urged. He ran behind the oak tree and reappeared dragging a heavy cinder block that he and his brother had stashed there for just such an occasion.

"Nuh uh," Ron said, shaking his head. "My monkey powers aren't for playing around with—you guys know that."

"Aww, please," Tim whined.

"Come on, Ron, we're not asking you to 'play around' with your powers," Jim said.

"Yeah, we just wanna see what you can do. It's important. Right, Wade?"

They all turned to face the young genius. This time the acknowledged voice of reason in the group took the Tweebs' side. "I could always use some more readings to get a better idea of what you can do and how," he said, pulling his own specialized Kimmunicator device out of his pocket.

"You're never gonna figure out the 'how,' Wade," Ron chided. "What part of _Mystical_ Monkey Power don't you understand?"

"Every part," Wade said. "Which is why I'm going to keep studying it until I do. There's _always_ a scientific explanation, Ron. We just haven't found it yet."

"And what would you do if you did find it?" Ron challenged.

"Dunno," Wade said with another shrug. "But you know what they say: Knowledge is power."

"Well, good," Ron answered. "If you've got knowledge power, then you don't need to see any monkey power."

"Awww," the twins groaned.

Then Ron felt a tug at the hem of his gi. He looked down to see Hana standing there. "Pretty please, Brother?" she said, sticking out her bottom lip and staring up at him with wide pleading eyes. Ron cringed and made a mental note to thank Kim for teaching his sister that particular little strategy.

"Yeah." The three teenage boys echoed her high-pitched voice. "Pretty please?"

"Okay, okay, cut it out!" Ron finally cried, holding up his hands in surrender. "I'll do it. Just holster your weapon," he said, pointing at Hana, whose puppy dog pout instantly transformed into a triumphant grin.

The twins let out whoops of joy, and even Wade did a fist pump, which certainly cast his assertion that his interest in seeing a display of Ron's powers was purely scientific into serious doubt. Jim and Tim each took one end of the heavy brick and carried it over to the center of the yard.

Ron walked slowly over and stood in front of it, his face settling into a serious, almost expressionless cast. The others followed his example almost unconsciously, growing silent and solemn as they gathered around him in a loose circle.

Ron steepled his hands and lowered his head, breathing deeply and evenly. After a few seconds of complete silence, a blue glow began to appear in the air around him. At first it was so faint that from one moment to the next, those watching could almost convince themselves that it wasn't really there, that it was simply a trick of the mid-afternoon light. But gradually, imperceptibly, the blue light grew in intensity until it was an unmistakable aura surrounding and emanating from Ron's entire body.

His eyes snapped open and everyone gasped. They had all seen this display many times by now, but somehow it always still caught them by surprise. With his whole body glowing blue and hair waving wildly in a wind that arose from nowhere, it was still the otherworldly light shining from those eyes that was the most surprising—the most un-Ron-like—thing about the Ultimate Monkey Master.

Ron bent down into a monkey-like crouch, then sprang straight up into the air, hovering there for just a few seconds longer than should have been physically possible. He came back down to earth with an explosive force that shook the entire yard, hammering his fist down into the top of the brick in the same motion. The brick instantly split down the middle, falling apart into two neat halves.

A second later, those two halves crumbled into two neat piles of light gray dust.

And that was all it took to finally break the silence of his spectators.

"Hicka bicka boo!" Tim shouted.

"Hoosha!" Jim responded, high-fiving him.

"Fascinating," Wade said, studying the readouts on the screen of his Kimmunicator.

"Yay!" Hana cried, clapping her hands.

"I never get tired of seeing that."

At the sound of that fifth familiar voice, Ron spun around and gaped at the redhead now standing just inside the gate to his backyard. Almost before his mind had time to process what was going on, his feet took matters into their own hands... er, feet... and carried him across the yard to his girlfriend.

"KP!" he shouted happily, sweeping her up off the ground and twirling her around in a full circle, and then kissing her soundly.

When their lips finally parted—and Ron finally set Kim's feet back down on the ground—she stared up at him, flushed but grinning. "Hmm, never get tired of that either."

"KP, what are you doing here? I mean, not that I'm not excited to see you—of course I'm excited to see you," he babbled, "but I thought your flight wasn't until tomorrow."

"It was," Kim said, "but I managed to catch an earlier flight." She pointed upward, and Ron followed the gesture just in time to see a GJ jet hovering over his house. A second later, its engines fired and it rocketed off into the distance.

"Aw man," Tim said as he walked toward the couple. "And you couldn't have asked the pilot to stick around for a little while—?"

"—And give your brothers a little joy ride?" Jim continued for him.

"Or a flying lesson."

"Hoosha!"

Kim rolled her eyes affectionately. "Good to see you guys, too," she said, opening her arms wide.

"Yeah, yeah," Jim said, obediently stepping into his sister's hug.

"Welcome home, Sis," Tim said, allowing himself to be subjected to her affections as well.

After giving them both a squeeze, Kim stepped back and looked them up and down. "You guys must have grown a foot over the summer. You're taller than me now!"

"Get used to it—"

"—_little_ sister."

"You wish, Tweebs."

"Hey Kim," another voice spoke up above the sibling banter. "Great to have you back."

As she looked past her brothers to the source of the voice, Kim couldn't keep her jaw from dropping. Apparently the Tweebs weren't the only ones who'd experienced a growth spurt while she was gone. In fact, Wade even had a few inches on her brothers now. And while he hadn't quite lost all of his "baby fat" —and Kim suspected he probably never would—Ron's training seemed to have added quite a bit of muscle to balance out his bulk.

Before Kim could get over her surprise, Wade had stepped forward and engulfed her in a bear hug. "Oof! It's great to see you too, Wade," she said, hugging him back. "Lookin' good."

She thought she actually saw him blush as he let her go. "Thanks. Guess I finally had that growth spurt my mom's been promising all these years."

"I had a growth spurt, too, Kimmie!" a much higher-pitched voice, from a much lower elevation, exclaimed.

Kim laughed as she reached down to pick Hana up. "Ooh, I can see that, Han! I almost didn't recognize you," she said, balancing the little girl on one hip and using her now-free hand to tickle her tummy. Hana giggled and squirmed out of her grasp.

"I'm this many now!" Hana proclaimed proudly, holding up four little fingers as Kim set her back down on the ground.

"I know!" Kim said with the proper amount of excitement. "Did you get the card I sent you from Norway?"

Hana nodded and Ron laughed. "She wouldn't put it down all day when it came in the mail. I think she's still making Mom read it to her every night before bed."

Kim grinned. "I'm glad you liked it so much, Hana." She turned back to Ron. "Is class time over?"

"It can be," Ron said, then turned towards Jim, Tim and Wade with a sly grin. "Unless the guys want to demonstrate what they've learned while you were gone—with a little help from Hana...?"

"No, no," Tim said hurriedly. "That's okay—it can wait."

"Yeah," Jim said. "You two should really take this time to catch up."

Ron and Kim shared an amused glance. "Whatever you say, guys," Ron said, before leaning over for another kiss from his girlfriend. He sighed as their lips parted. "But I should probably shower first."

"Good idea," Kim said, with a twinkle in her eye.

"Yeah, I—hey! What's that supposed to mean?" He pouted at her.

Kim raised an eyebrow at him. "Do you really want me to answer that?" When his pout only deepened, she leaned toward him again and whispered in his ear, "It means I'd love to have a nice, clean, fresh-smelling Ron to cuddle with."

The pout transformed into a grin. "Got it, KP. One freshly-showered Ron coming right up."

"Good," she said, smiling back at him. "See you back at my house in ten."

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><p>Kim opened the Possibles' front door and greeted Ron with another quick peck on the lips. Ron wondered quite seriously how he had lasted ten minutes without kissing her, let alone two months.<p>

Rufus popped up out of his owner's left pant pocket with an excited squeak, leaped over to Kim's shirt, and clambered up onto her shoulder. He wrapped himself around her neck and nuzzled her jaw, chittering happily.

Kim giggled and reached up to pat his head. "I missed you, too, Rufus," she said. Then she surprised both Rufus and Ron by turning her head and kissing the little mole rat on the cheek. Ron laughed; he'd never known that naked mole rats could blush.

"Come on in, Ron," Kim said, grabbing his hand. "I was just handing out some gifts."

As Kim pulled him into the living room, Ron saw the rest of her family there. The Doctors Possible were admiring a large wooden platter hand-painted with colorful ornate flowers and the words "The Possibles" written across its outer rim in flowing script. The Tweebs were just ripping the last of the paper off of their own souvenirs.

"Hey, cool," Tim said, holding up the unwrapped box for everyone else to see. "A Viking ship model kit."

Kim nodded as she took a seat on the couch and pulled Ron down beside her. "They're from the Viking Museum on campus. I know they're not very high-tech, but I thought you guys might like them anyway."

"Yeah, they're neat. Thanks, Sis," Jim said, examining his own model with a speculative eye. "And I bet we could find a way to make them high-tech if we wanted to, too."

Kim laughed. "Yeah, I kinda figured. Just don't blow anything up. You'll give Vikings a bad name all over again."

Reaching down into a duffle bag at her feet, she pulled out another gift-wrapped box and held it out to Ron. "This one's for you."

"Thanks, KP!" Ron said, taking the gift and turning it over in his hands. "Hey, Rufus."

The naked mole rat popped up out of his pocket again, spotted the gift in its neat red wrapping paper and squeaked, "Woohoo, presents!" He leaped toward the box, intent on ripping the paper to shreds, but Kim reached over and plucked the package up out of his reach.

"Uh uh," she said, shaking her head at both of them. "Sorry, Rufus, but Ron needs to open his own present this time."

Rufus crossed his paws and sulked. "Aw, phooey."

"_Because_," Kim continued, "you have your own present to open." She reached down again and pulled out another wrapped box.

"Aw, Kim," Ron said, "you got Rufus his very own souvenir?"

"Of course I did," she said with a smile.

They all watched as the little mole rat made short work of the wrapping paper and excitedly held up the box he had uncovered. "Cheese!"

"Oh, wow!" Ron said, sounding just as excited as his pet. "A Norwegian cheese sampler!" He took the box from Rufus and stared at the enticing array of browns, yellows, whites and oranges.

Kim laughed at their enthusiasm. "I figured that would be a hit. Now open yours, Ron," she said, setting the first box in his lap again.

Ron tore into the wrapping paper eagerly. His box was a little bigger and differently-shaped than Rufus's... but maybe that just meant Kim had gotten him a _super_ sampler.

But when he flipped open the lid of the box, instead of the delectable assortment of Jarlsbergs, Snofrisks and Brunosts he'd been hoping for, he found a floppy-looking piece of dark blue fabric.

He pulled the strange item out of the box and stared at it for a moment. "Uh, it's... a hat?"

Kim nodded. "It's part of a bunad—a traditional Norwegian folk costume." She paused before adding, "For some reason I just had a feeling you would look cute in it."

Ron grinned and placed the hat on his head. Kim quickly reached up and turned it the right way around. "Thanks," he said, spreading his arms wide. "Well, how do I look?"

Across the room, the twins both snickered. "Like a total dork," Jim said.

"Yeah." Tim snorted. "So in other words, pretty much the same as usual."

Ron scowled at them as they burst into laughter, but Kim knew exactly how to distract him from her annoying brothers. "Well, _I_ think I was right; you look cute," she said, kissing him on the cheek.

He smiled back at her. _Cute it is, then_. "Thanks, KP."

"Do you like it?" she asked.

"Oh yeah," he said. "It's badical."

Kim's eyes narrowed a little, though her smile remained. "But not as badical as what Rufus got, right?"

The expression that fell across Ron's face was a mixture of surprise and guilt. "Am I that obvious?"

"No, but I figured," she said, digging around in her bag again and pulling out another box. "Which is why I got you one, too."

"Booyah!" Ron cried, wrapping his girlfriend in a tight hug before pulling back and enthusiastically accepting the second gift from her.

Rufus echoed his owner's excitement with a paw pump and an exclamation of his own. "Hnk, more cheese!"

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><p>The next couple of hours were spent in pleasant conversation. Kim talked all about her classes, her professors, weekend trips spent hiking the fjords, museum visits, new friends, and her roommate, an exchange student from France named Vivienne. "If you put her and Bonnie in a room together," she joked, "I'm not sure if they'd come out of it best friends, or if they'd kill each other within an hour."<p>

It all sounded so exciting... and Ron found himself half-jealous that she'd been off having so much fun without him, and half-guilty for feeling that way—and, once again, for being the reason that she hadn't gone off to spend all four years of college exploring the world like this.

But, almost as if she knew where his mind had wandered, Kim leaned into his side and rested her head against his shoulder. "It was a lot of fun," she said, "but I'm glad to be home." The words were said to the room at large, but her eyes were staring straight up into his.

"Well, we're all glad to have you back home, Kimmiecub," James said.

"Especially Ron," Tim teased.

"Yeah," Jim said, "now he can finally stop moping around like he's been doing all summer."

"Hey!" Ron cried indignantly. "I wasn't moping around all summer."

"Yeah, Jim," Tim said, and Ron turned to stare at him—surprised that one of the twins was actually defending him from the other—before he continued. "Sometimes he was sleeping."

Ron slumped back on the couch, crossing his arms and staring sourly at the two boys as they broke into laughter again. But then a grin slowly formed across his face. "You know, you two should really be nicer to me."

The twins shared a glance, then turned back toward Ron, skeptical but curious.

"Oh?"

"And why is that?"

Ron's grin widened. "Because it would be a real shame if someone put up copies of your baby photos all over the freshman dorms at MIST on move-in day."

Tim gasped. "You wouldn't!"

But Jim placed a hand on his brother's shoulder and glared back at Ron. "No, he's bluffing."

Ron arched an eyebrow at them. "Oh, am I?"

"Yes. How would you know where Mom keeps the baby photos?"

"Because I showed him where I keep them, of course." All eyes in the room swiveled around to stare at Ann Possible.

"Mom!" Jim cried. "You didn't!"

"Why would you do that?" Tim whined.

"Because..." Ann said, looking apologetically at Ron, "he was moping around—" The twins laughed in spite of their distress— "and I thought looking at some pictures of Kimmie might cheer him up."

Kim's face went beet red. "Mom! You showed Ron my baby pictures?"

Ann waved a hand at her daughter. "Oh, don't worry, Kimmie. I didn't show him any of the _really_ embarrassing ones." She paused while Kim breathed an audible sigh of relief, then winked. "I'm saving those at least until you get engaged."

Kim's cheeks colored again, and she studiously avoided her boyfriend's gaze—but it was _his_ reaction that most interested Dr. Ann Possible. She'd had her suspicions for a while now about the plans she could see being made behind those brown eyes of his—and the way they widened at her little joke gave her further hope that she was right.

_To be continued..._


	3. Starry Eyed

_Disclaimer: Nope, still not mine, not even a little bit. All characters in this story are property of Disney and borrowed for entertainment purposes only._

_Many thanks to Slipgate for beta reading, humor help, and questions that make me stop and think. If you haven't already, I highly recommend you check out his latest story, "Losses" (and then bug him to continue it)._

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><p><strong>Chapter Two: Starry-Eyed<strong>

"So," Kim said, leaning against Ron's shoulder again, "what do you want to do for the rest of the day?"

"Oh man!" Ron said, sitting up dejectedly.

"What?" Kim asked.

"Aw, Kim, I had this big romantic 'welcome home' dinner planned—"

Kim's eyes lit up with pleased surprise.

"But I thought you weren't getting back until tomorrow," Ron continued, shoulders slumping, "and there's no way I can get them to change the reservation to tonight on this short of a notice."

Kim smiled and took his hand. "Actually, Ron, after two months of meat cakes and lamb and cabbage stew—" Ron shuddered involuntarily, though he wasn't quite sure why—"I could really go for some good old Bueno Nacho."

Ron's face lit up. "Booyah!" he cried, giving her a hug. "I knew there was a reason I loved you."

"I hope that's not the _only_ reason," she said, narrowing her eyes at him playfully.

Ron just grinned back. "Not by far."

* * *

><p>Ron slid into his side of "their" booth at Bueno Nacho, and Kim sat down beside him, enjoying the pleased little smile he always gave her when she chose to squeeze in next to him instead of sitting on the other side of the booth.<p>

"So, Norwegian food couldn't have been all bad, right?" he said. "What about those yummy meatballs?"

Kim gave him a look. "You mean _Swedish _meatballs?"

"Oh. Well, what about those pastries with the fruit filling?"

"Danishes?"

Ron shrugged. "Sorry, it's all Scandinavian to me." Kim snorted, and he continued. "I still don't get why out of all of the places in the world you could have gone, you chose Norway."

Kim shrugged. "Oslo is one of the oldest and most prestigious schools in the world, it's popular with exchange students, so I knew I would get to meet lots of people from all sorts of different places, and it's got a great college of education. Plus, it's one of the few places in the world that you and I have never even visited on our missions."

Ron gave her a quizzical look. "Are you sure about that?"

"Yes, of course. Why?"

Ron shook his head as if trying to dislodge a memory. "I don't know. I just have this weird feeling that I've been there before—but if it wasn't with you, why would I have ever gone to a place like Norway?"

Kim shook her head. "You got me," she said. "Anyway, enough about Norway. What about your summer? Must have been pretty quiet mission-wise, huh?"

"Are you kidding?" Ron said. "It seemed like every villain and his mother was up to something this summer. And I mean that literally; Dementor's mother actually got in on the action. And here's the best part—she looks almost exactly like Dementor did that time he wore that dress. She talks just like him, too—guess that's where he got that whole TALKING INAPPROPRIATELY LOUDLY habit from. Oh man, you have to get Wade to show you the video—"

Kim finally cut off his babbling with a hand against his mouth. "Wait a minute," she said. "So you've been doing missions all summer?"

With her fingers still on his lips, Ron just nodded yes.

"But I never heard anything about any missions. Why didn't you or Wade ever call me about them?"

"Well, KP, you were all the way over in Norway," Ron said. "There was no way you could have made it to any of the missions in time, so we just figured we wouldn't bother you. Besides," he added, sitting back with his arm stretched out across the top of the booth, "your man the Monkey Master had things under control."

"Oh..." Kim said quietly, looking somehow... disappointed. It was not at all the response Ron had expected to get from her when he announced that he'd taken care of the mission work on his own all summer so she could enjoy her trip without distractions.

"Oh, I know what you're thinking, KP," he said suddenly.

"You do?" she asked, looking up worriedly.

"Yes, and don't worry. I always made sure to take the Tweebs or Wade with me as backup on every mission. Not that I needed it," he said with a cocky grin, "but safety first, right?"

"Oh, yeah, right," Kim said, offering him a weak smile. "That's good. I'm glad you were careful."

Ron scooted a little closer to her. "You know, it did cross my mind a few times to have Wade call in a favor so I could visit you."

"Ron," Kim chided, "you know favors are only supposed to be used for missions."

"Well, I didn't do it, did I?" he said, then grinned. "Besides, looks who's talking—the girl who got Global Justice to give her a ride home so she could get here a whole day early."

"That's different," Kim said.

"How so?" Ron challenged.

"It was an emergency!"

"Oh, really?"

"Yes," she said, pouting. "My Ronshine levels were getting dangerously low."

"Oh, that _is_ serious," Ron said, nodding gravely. "But I think I might be able to help."

Kim leaned forward, smiling. "I was hoping you'd say that."

Ron moved to close the distance between them, his eyes drifting shut as he felt Kim's soft, warm breath caress his lips. Just half an inch further—

A tray full of food clattered down onto the table in front of them, startling them apart. "Order number 60," Ned said, his nasally voice grating on Ron's nerves more than it ever had before.

"Gee, thanks, Ned," Ron growled.

"Uh, Ned," Kim said, as she placed a calming hand on Ron's knee, "since when do you bring food to the tables? Don't you usually just call out the number and let the customers pick it up themselves?"

"I_ have_ been calling your number," Ned replied, with a hint of annoyance. "For the last three minutes."

Kim and Ron both blushed.

"I finally decided I'd better bring your food over myself before it got cold."

Ron's grin turned from sheepish to genuine. "'Nough said, Ned, my man. Nothing worse than a cold Naco."

Ned smiled back, happy to have his customer service appreciated for once. "No problemo, amigos. Have a muy bueno day."

As Ned walked away, Ron turned excitedly to the tray of food in front of them, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. "Sorry, KP, guess the Ronshine'll have to wait a little while lon—"

His words were cut short as Kim grabbed him by the collar and pulled him down into a kiss.

Ron very quickly decided that cold Nacos might not be so bad after all.

When they finally pulled apart, they just stared dreamily at each other for a minute before Kim, still running one finger lightly along the inside of Ron's collar, spoke up. "Ron, why don't we ask Ned for a to-go box and find somewhere more private?"

Ron's eyebrows rose. "What did you have in mind, KP?"

She smiled as she took his hand and pulled him up from the booth. "Our special spot?"

"Booyah."

* * *

><p>Stargazing had been a favorite activity for the young couple ever since the night of their first big fight—and first reconciliation, of course. It was a way to connect, to just be in each other's presence and quietly enjoy the beauty around and above them.<p>

After the Lorwardian invasion, though, they had both feared that the joy and peace they had once taken from stargazing might now be lost. Now that they knew that those stars held other worlds, worlds filled with beings who could bring such terrible destruction and pain to their home, would they still be able to find beauty in them?

But when they flew out to this isolated ledge on the western face of Mount Middleton after leaving the graduation party, they were pleasantly surprised by the answer they found. It wasn't the beauty of the stars that mattered; it was being with each other, simply being, that gave them peace, and lent beauty to the stars even still.

The Nacos were most definitely cold by the time the Sloth arrived at their "special spot" once more, but Ron made no complaint. After Kim landed the car, he grabbed a thick blanket from the trunk and spread it out on the ground. They both sat down to eat, legs dangling over the end of the ledge as they watched the sun go down over the sea of trees to the west.

Afterwards, just as they had done three years ago, they lay back on the blanket and stared up at the darkening sky. It was a perfect night for stargazing. There were thunderheads gathering on the distant horizon, but the sky overhead was perfectly clear, and the stars shone brilliantly out here where city lights were too far away to dim their glow.

The heat of the day could still be felt in the air, but there was a slight breeze from the north. When Kim shivered a little and snuggled up against Ron's side, he wrapped his arm around her and sighed contentedly. Occasionally they spoke, but they said nothing of consequence and couldn't have repeated their wandering conversation the next day had anyone asked. What mattered was that they were together. What mattered was the feeling of her hair cascading down his shoulder, the feeling of his warm breath caressing her forehead, the rhythm of their hearts beating side by side, and the stars twinkling silently above...

Ron opened his eyes and looked around languidly for a moment, slowly remembering where he was. As he turned his head to the left, he saw Kim gazing back at him sleepily. "Hey," she said, smiling and stretching.

"Hey," he replied, stretching himself. "Guess we fell asleep, huh?"

She nodded. "Uh huh. _I'm_ jetlagged. What's your excuse?"

Ron grinned. "Oh, you know me, KP. I can fall asleep anywhere as long as I've got a beautiful redhead on my shoulder."

She pursed her lips. "I hope you haven't tested that out with any other beautiful redheads."

"There's more than one?"

Kim giggled and punched his arm lightly. "Ooh, you're good."

"Hey, I've had all summer to hone my flirting skills. And before you ask," he added when he saw the look on her face, "I only tested them out on Rufus. I'm pretty sure that's why he's so happy that you're back. You know, that and the cheese."

Kim laughed again, burying her face in his shoulder. Ron rubbed his cheek against the top of her head, his heart constricting. Who knew that you could be overwhelmed with contentment?

As it had often done over the last two months, Ron's right hand wandered down to his pocket and wrapped itself around the small velvet box that rested there. He let it linger there as he gazed down at Kim, who was snuggling sleepily against his side again. He had tomorrow night all planned out—had had it planned out for weeks now—but... the moment felt so perfect. Should he toss his plans out the window and ask her now?

"I wonder what woke us up?" Kim murmured against his chest, interrupting his thoughts.

Ron opened his mouth to reply, but he was stopped short by a loud thunderclap. Both he and Kim looked upward to see that the stars they'd been watching earlier were now completely obscured by clouds. As Ron stared up at them, a drop of water fell down and splashed onto the end of his nose. He turned to look at Kim. "KP, maybe we should—"

Before he could complete the thought, the heavens opened up and the rain came pouring down on them.

"Get to the car!" Kim finished for him, helping him scramble to his feet.

Giggling like kids as the rain poured down over them in sheets, they gathered up the blanket and dashed back to the car, jumping inside and slamming the doors shut against the storm. Of course, all of their hurrying had done little good; they were both soaked to the skin. They continued to laugh as they sat there in the car together, staring at each other as cold beads of rain dripped from their disheveled hair. Then their laughter ceased, and as suddenly as the rain had started, they were in each other's arms, mouths meeting in a passionate dance as hands explored chilled and rain-soaked skin.

When they finally drew apart, Ron wasn't surprised to see that all of the windows of the Sloth had fogged up, wrapping them in a cocoon of misty glass. He grinned as Kim nestled her head under his chin, rubbing her ice-cold nose against his neck.

"Mmm, have I mentioned yet that I missed you?" she murmured.

Ron chuckled breathlessly. "Not in so many words, but I got the message."

She sat back and stared up at him with a playful gleam in her eyes. "Oh, so you're finally getting better at understanding girls, huh?"

"Nah," Ron said, wrapping his arms around her, "just the one that matters."

Kim grinned and leaned in toward his face again. "Good answer," she whispered against his lips before gracing them with a feather-soft kiss.

But then she sat back and sighed. "We should probably try to get back home before the rain starts up again."

"Huh?" Ron asked, before realization set in. In his Kim-induced haze, he hadn't even noticed that the sound of the rain pounding against the car had ceased. "Oh," he said, sitting back in his seat as well. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Your parents will probably be worried."

Kim gave him a conciliatory smile as she started the car's engine and turned on the Sloth's turbo defogger, making a small joke about not wanting to know how the Tweebs had guessed that that would be an important feature to include when they designed her car.

Ron sighed and strapped himself in. Kim started to buckle her own seat belt, but then paused and suddenly launched herself across the seat at her now captive boyfriend. The surprise kiss was somewhere between the passion of the first and the sweetness of the second. It left Ron grinning giddily long after she put on her belt, shifted the car into F (for "fly," of course,) and drove the car off the mountain and toward home.

As Kim set the car down on an empty section of highway and shifted it into drive, Ron just sat quietly and watched her, sleepy and content. He stuck his hand back into his pocket and turned the little velvet box over in his fingers a few times...

But the moment had passed. Better that he stick with his original plan anyway. He had one more thing he really meant to do before he asked her. And with her here early, he was going to have to call in a little help if he was going to get a chance to do it...

"Hello," Kim said loudly, waving a hand in front of his face. "Earth to Ron. Come in, Ron."

He blinked at his girlfriend, then gazed past her to see that they were now parked in front of his house. Wondering just how long they'd been sitting there, he let his eyes drift back to her and offered her a sheepish smile, rubbing the back of his neck. "Sorry about that, KP. Guess I kind of spaced out for a while, huh?"

"No kidding," she said. "You looked like you were a million miles away."

_Nah, _he thought, _just about twenty-four hours into the future._

Perhaps he had looked a little distant again for a moment, because there was a trace of concern in her voice as she asked, "What were you thinking about?"

"Huh? Oh, uh... nothin' big, KP."

She frowned a little. "Ron..."

"Really, Kim," he said, taking her hand and giving her a reassuring smile. "Just the ol' noggin wandering aimlessly." He knocked on the side of his head. "I'd think you'd be used to that by now."

She allowed a small smile at that, and he quickly leaned over and planted a soft kiss on her slightly upturned lips. "Love you."

Her smile grew. "Love you, too. See you tomorrow."

"Right," he replied, as he climbed out of the car. "See you tomorrow."

* * *

><p>Up in his room, Ron shucked his wet clothes, put on some dry pajamas and toweled his hair off. Then he climbed into bed, picked up his phone and dialed a familiar number.<p>

"Hey, Monique? Sorry, I know it's late, but I need to ask you for a favor..."

_To be continued..._


	4. The PerMission

_Disclaimer: No Possibles or Stoppables in my Easter basket, sadly, so they must still belong to Disney._

_Thanks once more to Slipgate for catching unintentional innuendos and rogue letter 'E's, i.e. beta reading._

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Three: The Per-Mission<strong>

_Bbbrrrrrinnnggg!_

Kim's hand shot out from under the covers to grab the phone from her nightstand before it could sound again. Bringing it up to her ear, she mumbled, "Hello?" prepared to give Ron an earful for waking her up this early.

"Hey, girl! Welcome home!"

Kim sat up, taken off guard by the unexpected voice on the other end of the line. "Monique, hi!" Then her brow furrowed. "Wait a minute, how did you know I was back in town already?"

"Oh, um..." Monique floundered for a response. "Wade told me."

"Ooh, of course, _Wade_ told you," Kim said, smirking. "I should have known."

"Don't even start, girl," Monique warned, glad that her excuse had distracted Kim but less than pleased with _how_ it had distracted her.

"Aw, come on, Monique," Kim teased. "Ron's training has him looking pretty buff..."

"Kiiim." Monique drew her name out warningly, and Kim knew she had reached the line; she would not cross it.

"Okay, okay, sorry, I'll drop it. Pixie Scout's Honor."

"Good," Monique said, her good mood quickly returning. "Because I wanna hear all about _you_ and your trip while we're STWD today."

Kim thought about that one for only a moment before giving up. "It's a little early for Monique-speak."

Monique just laughed. "Shopping 'til we drop, natch."

"Oh... shopping? Today?"

"What's wrong?" Monique prodded.

"Well, it's just that Ron probably wants to—"

"Uh uh," Monique cut her off. "The BF got you all yesterday... I assume," she added hastily. "And he's probably got you penciled in for tonight, too—am I right?"

"Well, yeah..."

"Then he can spare you for a few hours of quality time with your B_G_F."

"Best Girl Friend?"

"That's right, and don't you forget it. Besides, you need to find something new and shiny for your big date tonight."

"How do you know tonight's going to be a 'big' new dress type of date?"

This time Monique didn't falter. "Hello? It's a 'welcome back after being gone all summer, look how much I missed you' date."

Kim laughed. "So, a WBABGASLHMIMY date then? I see why you find the need to use acronyms."

"Funny," Monique said. "Anyway, even Mr. Ron-mantically Challenged isn't gonna screw that up."

"Hey," Kim said defensively, "he's not that bad."

"Two words, Kim. Coupon. Book."

Kim rolled her eyes. "That was almost four years ago, Monique. He hasn't used a coupon on a date since."

"Really—_never_?" Monique challenged.

"Okay," she sighed. "Hardly ever. But trust me, he's gotten better in the romance department."

"Glad to hear it," Monique said. "And you can tell me all about it while we're out giving our wallets a workout at the mall. Right...?"

Kim sighed again, indecisive. She and Ron hadn't made any definite plans, but she was sure he'd assumed just as she had that they'd be spending the day together. She'd been envisioning a quiet day in, maybe snuggling on the couch watching some good old American television. But shopping and catching up with Monique did sound like fun—Club Bananas were as few and far between in Norway as Bueno Nachos were—and it _would_ be nice to get something new to show off for Ron tonight.

"Okay," she relented. "Let me call Ron and let him know about the change of plans, and then I just need time to shower and get ready."

"Great! I'll be over in about an hour." Monique hung up before Kim had any chance to reconsider.

Kim sighed and reluctantly dialed another number.

"Morning, KP!" Ron answered, sounding unusually chipper. Kim blinked at the phone.

"Oh, hey, Ron... I hope I didn't wake you up...?"

"Nope, no worries. I was up already."

That was odd. Ron not sleeping in on a Saturday in the summer? _Well_, she thought with a happy little thrill, _he must just be excited to come over and see me_. Happiness quickly gave way to guilt as she remembered that she'd called to tell him she _wouldn'_t be spending the day with him after all.

"Oh," she said. "Well, I was just calling because Monique just called _me_—I guess Wade told her I was back in town early—and I know you probably wanted to spend the day together, but she wanted me to go shopping with her, and—"

"Sounds great, KP."

"So I—wait, what?"

"I said, 'sounds great,'" Ron repeated. "I'm sure you and Monique have a lot of catching up to do. Plus, you can find something nice to wear out to dinner tonight, right? So, two birds."

"Oh... okay." Kim paused, feeling almost like she must have woken up in some alternate universe. "So... you're sure you're all right with this? You won't be... lonely or anything?"

"Of course not, KP! You go have fun with Monique, and I'll pick you up at your house tonight around six-thirty, okay?"

"Um, okay."

"Okay then. Love you, bye!" And with that, he hung up. Kim sat there on her bed for a minute, staring at the phone, trying to figure out what had just happened—and why it was bothering her so much.

* * *

><p>Ron knocked on the Possibles' front door and waited nervously. The door swung open a moment later and Ann Possible appeared, wiping her hands on an apron. "Oh, Ron," she said, clearly surprised to see him there. "Kimmie went off shopping with Monique. I thought she told you."<p>

"Oh, yeah, I know, Mrs. Dr. P," Ron said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Actually, um... I was hoping to talk to you and Mr. Dr. P about something."

Ann's eyebrows shot up. "Of course. Come on in," she said, ushering him through the door. "We've still got some waffles left over from breakfast."

James Possible was sitting in the breakfast nook, reading the paper and sipping his coffee, when his wife walked back into the kitchen with Ronald trailing behind her. "James," Ann said, "Ron has something he'd like to speak with us about."

James folded down the top of his paper to look at the young man as Ann pressed him down into the seat across from him. "Is that so?" he asked.

Ron swallowed nervously under the older man's gaze. "Um, yes sir. I do."

Ann set a plate full of waffles down in front of Ron and slid into the seat next to him. When he pushed the plate away a little instead of diving in, James and Ann shared a curious look. Rufus, on the other hand, was happy to oblige Ann's mothering. He hopped out of Ron's pocket, scurried across the table, and started nibbling away at the stack of waffles.

"Well, what is it, Ron?" Ann asked, offering an encouraging smile.

James laid his paper down on the table and folded his hands in front of him. "Yes, Ronald, what did you want to talk with us about?"

Ron looked back and forth between the two Possible parents. Suddenly the two adults who he usually felt almost as comfortable with as he did his own parents looked scarier than the worst villains he and Kim had ever faced. He tried to smile, but he had a feeling that it came out looking more like a grimace.

"Um, well, Mr. Dr. P, Mrs. Dr. P... you know Kim and I have been dating for a few years now, and I, um... I love Kim," he finally blurted out. "I mean, of course I love Kim, she's the greatest, but I mean I really _love her_, love her, you know? I just..." He took a deep breath. "I can't imagine my life without her in it, so I wanted to get your permission to... to ask her to marry me."

Ann barely contained a squeal of excitement. James, on the other hand, showed almost no reaction at all. Ron almost wondered whether the man had somehow not heard him. Or maybe he just hadn't understood. For a moment Ron wondered if he had actually even said the words that he thought he had, or if what had come out of his mouth had actually just been pure gibberish. But the look of barely contained glee on Mrs. Dr. P's face seemed to counter that theory.

The older man stood up and walked slowly toward the kitchen door, hands folded behind his back. After a few beats, he turned back around, his expression still unreadable. "Well, Ronald," he said, and Ron held his breath. "Frankly, I'm disappointed."

Ron's heart fell into his stomach.

"_Disappointed_ that it took you so long," James said, the stony look on his face suddenly transforming into a warm grin.

Ron was so caught off guard by the sudden shift that he blinked in confusion as the older man walked over and gave his hand a hearty shake. "I, oh, well... I guess I just thought that you would want us to wait until we were done with school before we got married, so I didn't, uh..."

Ann placed a hand on his shoulder. "Ron, he's just giving you a hard time," she said, before engulfing him in a warm hug. "Now stop teasing the poor boy, James. You remember how nerve wracking it was for you to ask _my_ parents."

"Boy, do I," James said with a laugh, clapping Ron on the back. "But unlike _your_ dad, _I_ don't have a case full of shotguns on prominent display in the living room, Ann."

"Right," she said, arching an eyebrow at him. "_You've_ just got access to a bevy of rockets that you could use to launch someone into say... a black hole?"

"Now, dear, would I do that to my future son-in-law?" James asked, giving Ron another clap on the back that almost sent him sprawling.

Ron chuckled nervously, looking back and forth between them. "So you're... really okay with this?"

Ann hugged him again. "Of course we're okay with it, Ron! _More_ than okay."

"I can't imagine a better man to marry my Kimmiecub," James said, genuine warmth in his voice—and perhaps, Ron thought, the beginnings of tears shining in his eyes. But the man cleared his throat and the moment quickly passed. "So, when are you planning on popping the question?"

"Oh," Ron said. "Tonight, actually. I've got reservations at Chez Couteaux."

"Cutting it kind of close on asking us then, aren't you, Ronald?" James asked with a wink.

Ron rubbed the back of his neck. "Heh, yeah, well, to tell the truth, I think I was more nervous about asking you guys than I am about asking Kim."

"I can't imagine why," Ann said, giving her husband a pointed glare.

James held up his hands defensively. "Hey, I'm the father; it's my job to give him a hard time. That's how we find out if a young man is good enough for our little girl—by scaring the snot out of him and seeing if he sticks around anyway."

Ann just rolled her eyes at her husband and turned back to Ron. "So, do you have the ring?"

Ron smiled at her excitement. "Yep," he said, reaching into his pocket. "Right here." He pulled out the little black velvet box and handed it to her.

Ann opened the ring box with the same enthusiasm as if she was the one being proposed to. Her little girl was going to be getting married! She was almost tempted to try to find some way to sneak into Chez Couteaux tonight so she could be there to see Ron pop the question. Though her practical side batted that idea aside, she still knew there was no way she'd be able to go to sleep tonight until the kids got home from their date and Kim told her every detail.

The ring inside was simple but elegant—a single, small but exquisite diamond set in a braided platinum band. "Oh, Ron, it's beautiful," Ann said, wiping a tear from her eye. "Kimmie will just love it."

"You think so?"

"It's perfect," Ann assured him. "Just Kim's style. You've got good instincts—for a man," she added with a wink.

"Hey now," James said. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, dear," Ann said, kissing him on the cheek. "You have good taste in jewelry, too. I was talking about _other_ men, of course."

James nodded, satisfied, (and missed the second little wink that Ann shared with Ron).

Ann took one last long look at the ring before she shut the box and handed it back to Ron, sighing happily. "Oh, this brings back memories," she said, reaching over to squeeze her husband's hand.

"It certainly does," he agreed, squeezing back.

Ron watched them with interest. "How did you propose to Mrs. Dr. P, sir?"

"Oh, Kimmiecub's never told you that story? She used to love having us tell her about it when she was a little girl."

"I don't think so," Ron said, shaking his head.

"Well," James said, sitting up a little straighter as Ann leaned against him, "we had been going together for about a year, and I asked Ann to take a little evening stroll through Middleton Park. I had rigged up my own fireworks, and at my signal, my buddies Chen and Ramesh set them off, and they spelled out 'Will You Marry Me, Ann?' across the sky."

"Wow..." Ron said, "your own fireworks display? That's... really romantic." As his expression slowly changed from awed to worried, Ann thought she could almost read his thoughts. _How is a boring dinner at Chez Couteaux ever going to live up to that?_

"Um, I'd better go," he said, pushing up from the table, "and get ready, you know, for tonight." He walked quickly toward the kitchen door, but then spun around, slapping his forehead. "Oh gosh, um, I forgot to say thanks! Thanks for, you know, saying yes."

He turned and continued on to the front door, adding a mumbled, "I just hope Kim does."

Ron pushed the door open and stumbled out into the sunlight, which suddenly seemed just a little too bright. But as he squinted toward his parents' house down the block, a slender hand landed on his arm and he spun back around, startled, to find that Ann Possible had followed him out.

"Mrs. Dr. P! I—"

"Ron," she said, sliding her hand down to his and offering a comforting squeeze, "there's a part of that story that James left out, but you should know—it was always Kimmie's favorite part."

Ron stared back at her, curious, and she continued. "James' fireworks _were_ pretty impressive," she said, "but they weren't perfect. They actually came out looking less like 'Will You Marry Me, Ann?' and more like, 'Will You Hurry, My Man?'" She chuckled. "There were articles in the local papers for weeks speculating on what it meant; was it some sort of political message, or maybe an ad for a new movie? I was the only one who knew exactly what it really meant—because the man I loved was there kneeling down in front of me with a ring and a hopeful look on his face."

She squeezed his hand again. "I know nothing I can say will stop you from feeling nervous about tonight, Ron—it's only natural—but I'll say it anyway. Whatever you do or say, Kimmie's going to love your proposal for the same reason that she's going to love that ring: because it comes from you."

Ron suddenly found it very difficult to meet her gaze. But when he tried to look down, Ann put one hand under his chin and gently tilted his face back up to meet her warm smile. "She loves you, Ronald."

"I know that, Mrs. Dr. P. I wouldn't be asking her to marry me if I didn't know that. It's just..." He paused and sighed. "That's why she deserves the perfect proposal." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I know I haven't always been Mr. Romance, and Kim's always loved me in spite of that, but... just this once, I'd like to get it right—for her."

Ann just shook her head fondly and pulled him into a hug. "Then you will."

* * *

><p>Kim spun right and left in front of the dressing room mirrors. The dress she was trying on was a long sleeveless number in a shimmery black fabric. She didn't wear black often, unless one counted her old mission wear, but the dress did look good on her. And she found herself wondering whether it would remind Ron of a certain other black dress she had worn once years ago... but somehow thinking of Ron darkened her mood instead of brightening it.<p>

Almost as if reading her thoughts, Monique spoke up. "I'm telling you, Kim, when Ron sees you in this, you'll be picking that boy's jaw up off the floor."

"You think so?" Kim asked, without any of her usual confidence.

Monique frowned. "I know so," she said. "And I also know when something's bugging my BF. What's up, girl? I thought you said you and Ron had a good time last night."

"We did," Kim insisted. "We had a great time." She paused and sighed before quietly adding, "Mostly."

Monique put her hands on Kim's shoulders and pushed her down into one of the dressing room chairs, then sat down across from her. "Okay, girl, spill. What's the problem?"

Kim started to say it was nothing, but a warning look from Monique headed that lie off at the pass. Her shoulders slumped. "It's just something Ron said last night... about how he was able to handle all the missions this summer all on his own."

Monique stared back at her, confused. "So your boy stepped up. What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing! I mean, I'm proud of him, but... it just made me realize something that I never really stopped to think about before... With his monkey powers, Ron doesn't really need me for the world saving thing anymore."

Monique shook her head. "Kim, even if that were true—and I'm not saying it is—monkey boy wouldn't even be involved in the world saving thing if it wasn't for _you_. You're the reason he got those powers in the first place—not to mention the reason he finally learned how to use them."

"I know," Kim said, but she didn't sound at all reassured.

"Look, Kim, I know you're used to being top dog at everything—and I'm pretty sure you know Ron wouldn't take that away from you. But you always wanted your Potential Boy to step up, and now that he has, you're... jealin'?"

"It's not that, Monique... I mean, maybe it is a little, but that's not really it..." Kim's voice trailed off and she folded her arms around herself. "It's just... what if it's not just missions? What if he doesn't need me at all?"

"Okay, now I _know_ you're trippin'. Girl, that boy is head over heels for you, and if you can't see that, you might need to talk to your mom, 'cause you need to get your head examined! He's been acting all lonely-hearted all summer without you."

Kim sighed again and threw up her hands. "That's what everyone keeps saying. But it sure didn't seem like it when I called him this morning and told him I was going to go shopping with you instead of spending the day with him. In fact, he seemed like he couldn't wait to _not_ spend time with me!"

Monique allowed herself a little mental sigh of relief since, of course, she knew the real reason for Ron's behavior—and was sure it would be forgiven and forgotten after tonight. But that still left her with the conundrum of how to assuage Kim's worries in the here and now.

She smiled at her friend. "So what you're saying is, you're upset with him for not jealin' like crazy the way he did back when you and I first met?"

"No!" Kim said, crossing her arms and sulking. Monique just raised an eyebrow at her and waited. "Okay, fine," she huffed. "A_ little_ jealing would have been nice."

Monique couldn't help but laugh. She ignored Kim's glare as she stood up, grabbing her friend's hands and pulling her to her feet as well. "Kim, did it ever occur to you that boyfriend was trying to show you how mature he can be—just like he was trying to _impress you_ by telling you he could handle the missions by himself?"

Kim shuffled her feet. "Well..."

Monique gave her a playful nudge. "Come on, girl, let's pay for this dress, find you some killer heels to complete the ensemble, and go get our hair and nails done. Then you can return the favor by showing off for _him_ tonight," she said with a wink.

That actually got a small giggle out of Kim. "Thanks Monique," she said, hugging her friend, "I guess I just needed someone to knock some sense into me."

"Hey, that's what I'm here for. Now hurry up and change out of that dress or we won't have time to put my master plan into action."

"Your 'master plan,' huh?" Kim raised an eyebrow. "What, are you a super-villain now?"

"Curse you, Kim Possible!" Monique replied in a deep voice. "You've uncovered my dark secret. From this day on, I shall be known as... the Stylinator!"

Kim snorted. "The Stylinator? That might be the worst super-villain name I've ever heard—and believe me, I've heard a lot of baaad super-villain names."

"Oh, come on," Monique said, "it is _not_ worse than The Mathter! Anyway, I'd like to see you do better on the spur of the moment, Miss Perfect."

"Hmm," Kim said, pursing her lips in thought. "How about... The Vogue Rogue, The Hem Fatale, The Fashion Fiend—"

"Okay, okay already!" Monique said, rolling her eyes and pushing her friend toward the dressing room door. "You've now proven that in addition to cheerleading and freak fighting, you're also a natural at coming up with villain names. Now get changed and let's get out of here. So sayeth the Vogue Rogue!"

_To be continued..._

* * *

><p><em>Author's Note: Unlike Kim, I'm not a natural at coming up with villain names, so thanks to Pharaoh Rutin Tutin and DoofusPrime for suggesting 'The Hem Fatale' and 'The Vogue Rogue' respectively, and thanks to everyone else who brainstormed on the Kim Possible Discussion forum<em>_. _


	5. The Best Laid Plans

_Disclaimer: The characters in this story belong to Disney. I promise to return them relatively unharmed._

_Thanks once again to Slipgate, my beta, to whom I probably owe some Tums._

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Four: The Best Laid Plans (of Mole Rats and Men)<strong>

For the second time that day, Ron found himself waiting nervously at the Possibles' front door. He fidgeted, straightening his tie, running a hand though his hair, and patting the little box-shaped lump in his right pocket. He chuckled to himself; Rufus would be glad when the ring was finally out of his pocket and on Kim's finger. The naked mole rat hadn't appreciated having to share "his" space all summer.

Once again it was Ann Possible who opened the door and ushered him into the foyer. "Kimmie," she called up the stairs, "there's a handsome young man here to see you."

Kim poked her head around the corner of the upstairs hallway and smiled down at Ron and her mother. "I'll be down in just a minute," she promised hurriedly, then vanished once again.

Ron shuffled his feet, and Ann gave his arm a squeeze. "How are you feeling?" she whispered.

He smiled at her. "Pretty good, Mrs. Dr. P. Thanks for, you know, earlier."

"You're welcome," she said. "You've got nothing to worry about, you know."

"That's right, Ronald," James said, walking in from the kitchen and patting Ron's shoulder. "You'll do just fine."

"Fine at what?"

All three heads swiveled around to see Kim coming down the stairs toward them. Ron couldn't help but stare. It didn't matter that he'd known this girl his whole life; somehow she could still take his breath away and make him feel like he'd never seen her before. It helped that she was wearing a long black dress that, coupled with his standing there between her parents as she made her appearance, gave him a pleasant feeling of déjà vu.

Ron might have hated the Moodulator incident once for the turmoil and uncertainty it had caused him, but all these years later he found himself looking back on it almost fondly. Though the circumstances may not have been ideal, there was no getting around the fact that it was the first time he had kissed his best friend—or more accurately, she had kissed him.

And that comment about fireworks that she had made—well, it had puzzled him, but it had also left him with just a glimmer of hope that maybe, just maybe, she could return his feelings. Just a very tiny glimmer, but it had been enough. Enough to keep him going, enough for him to allow his own feelings to grow even as he tried to warn himself not to, and enough that when Eric came along he genuinely felt like something had been stolen away from him, though he never would have admitted it to himself, let alone Kim. And enough that, when the moment came, after he feared he had lost her in more ways than one, he had the courage to finally tell her how he really felt about her, whether she returned his feelings or not. And the wonderful thing was, she did—and that little glimmer had become a shining ray of hope in Ron Stoppable's life as he held his best friend in his arms later that night and kissed her _back_ for the first time ever.

So ultimately Ron had come to make peace with the Moodulator and to even be grateful for it, because it was part of the path that his life had taken, and that path had led him here, to this night—the night he was going to propose to the woman he loved. The woman he had loved, in some form or another, for as long as he could remember.

He grinned as she reached the bottom of the stairs and he noticed that she was wearing the small gold hoop earrings that he'd gotten her for their halfiversary, after the MRM malfunction—another memory that could have held bitterness for him, but that he had instead come to embrace.

James gave him a little nudge with his elbow and Ron shook his head, wondering how long he'd just been standing there staring. Based on the smile on her face, though, Kim didn't seem to mind. "Sorry," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "You just, uh... you look beautiful, KP."

Kim blushed a little and kissed his cheek. "Thank you," she said, then leaned back to get a better look at him. "You clean up pretty well yourself. Been out shopping with Monique, too?"

Ron chuckled and shook his head. Kim had no idea how close she'd landed to the truth. Though he wasn't about to admit it, he'd actually gotten his mother to help him pick out the charcoal gray suit and blue shirt—specifically to go with the silk navy blue tie Kim had gotten him for Valentine's Day that year.

"Glad you like it," he said. "Oh, I forgot the finishing touch. Hey Rufus!"

At Ron's call, the naked mole rat popped his head up out of his left pocket and looked up at him questioningly. Ron pointed to his own head and Rufus saluted, then dove back down into the pocket, emerging again a moment later dragging a dark blue item out with him. He scrambled up onto his owner's shoulder and tossed the Norwegian folk hat up onto his head, squeaking a triumphant "Ta-da!"

Ron held out his arms, grinning, as Kim giggled. "What? Too much?"

Still laughing, Kim reached up and pulled the hat back off his head, kissing the end of his nose as she did so. "Maybe just a little."

Ann took the hat from her daughter and held it up toward the mole rat still perched on Ron's shoulder. "Come on, Rufus. I've got a wedge of gouda in the fridge with your name on it."

"Woohoo!" Rufus cried as he leapt from Ron's shoulder and onto the safe cushion of the hat.

"Thanks, Mrs. Dr. P," Ron said. He turned to Kim again, sticking his elbow out toward her. "Ready to go?"

Kim nodded happily and slipped her arm through his.

"Hold on, you two," James called out as Ron reached for the doorknob. They turned back to see him pointing a camera at them. "Let me get a few pictures before you go."

Kim stared back at him, bemused. "Daddy, you're acting like we're going to the Prom or something. It's just a date."

"Yeah, James," Ann muttered, elbowing her husband.

He smiled sheepishly. "Oh, well, you know—you just both look so nice, I just thought..."

Kim and Ron exchanged a glance, and thankfully Kim didn't notice the sweat beading on Ron's brow. They both shrugged and posed dutifully for a few photos before finally leaving the house.

"That was weird," Kim said, as they climbed into the Sloth, with Ron in the driver's seat.

Ron swallowed audibly as he started the car. "Not that weird," he squeaked, then cleared his throat and added in a deeper voice, "I mean, for your dad."

Kim looked at him out of the corner of her eye and grinned crookedly. "No, I guess not. But that reminds me. What was he talking about earlier when he said you'd do fine?"

"What? Fine?" Ron kept his eyes fixed firmly on the road ahead and resisted the urge to scratch under his nose.

"Yes..." Kim prompted.

"I don't, uh... oh! I remember now." He forced a smile. "He was talking about dancing."

Kim raised an eyebrow. "Dancing?"

Ron nodded emphatically. "Right, dancing. Well, I mentioned to your parents that there's going to be a band playing at Chez Couteaux tonight, and I was just feeling a little nervous about dancing, I guess."

Kim set a hand on his knee and smiled at him. "Well, Dad was right then, because you are a bon-diggity dancer." She leaned over and gave him another buss on the cheek that calmed his nerves and left him grinning the rest of the way to the restaurant.

* * *

><p>Dinner at Chez Couteaux had gone off without a hitch, and Ron was on top of the world.<p>

They had enjoyed a delicious and leisurely meal at the restaurant's best table, sharing bites of each other's dishes, talking about everything and nothing, and watching the reflected candlelight dance in each other's eyes.

As they waited for their dessert, the band began their second set of the night. Ron took a deep breath and stood up from his chair, holding a hand out to Kim. "May I have this dance?" he asked with a disarming smile.

Kim smiled back and took his hand, letting him help her up from the table and lead her out to the small dance floor in the corner of the restaurant. Ron let his hands fall gently onto Kim's hips, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning her head against his shoulder.

After a few minutes, Kim looked up and gave his tie a little yank, and he obediently bent his head down to meet her lips, even as they continued to sway softly to the music.

_Monique was right_, Kim thought. _I was crazy to ever doubt this._

Only one thought was running through Ron's mind: _This is it!_

As the final chords of the song played, they reluctantly allowed their lips to part, and Ron took a deep breath. "Kim?"

"Hmm?" she murmured, smiling back at him contentedly.

That smile gave Ron all the confidence he needed. He reached for his pocket and began to kneel down toward the floor. "I—"

_Beep beep ba deep_

Like a switch being flipped, that old familiar tone knocked Kim straight out of romance mode and into mission mode. Without a second glance at Ron, she ran off the dance floor toward the table and her purse.

Ron, stuck halfway between standing and kneeling and unable to decide which direction to choose, instead buckled and fell over, landing on the dance floor with an unceremonious thud. The ring box, which he'd just managed to pull out of his pocket when Kim spun around, went flying out of his fingers. Ron watched in horror as it tumbled across the floor and disappeared amongst the feet and chairs and tables of the dining room.

Unaware of her boyfriend's predicament, Kim pulled the Kimmunicator out of her purse. "What's the sitch, Wade?"

"Sorry to interrupt your big date, Kim," the young tech genius said.

"No big. I assume you wouldn't have interrupted if it wasn't, well, big."

"It is," he said. "The alarm system at the Tri-City Museum was just tripped... and you'll never believe who I saw when I tapped into their security cameras!" He hit a few keys and a view of the inside of the museum appeared on the screen. Even in the grainy black and white footage, it was impossible not to recognize the two familiar figures skulking through the shadows.

"Drakken and Shego!"

Wade nodded. "The police are on their way, but you guys are right around the corner—"

"We're on it," Kim said quickly, clicking the Kimmunicator off and stuffing it back into her purse.

"Ron," she said, turning—expecting to find him looking over her shoulder. But he wasn't there. She looked back at the dance floor where she had left him a minute ago, but he wasn't there either.

Then she heard a shriek from a few tables away and turned to see a gray-haired woman leap to her feet, grab her purse and start whacking Ron over the head with it as he scrambled out from under the table, crying out, "Ow, ouch! Okay, lady, I'm sorry!"

"Ron!" Kim stared down at him. "What are you doing?"

Ron looked like a deer caught in the headlights as he tilted his head up to look at her. "Uhhh... I'm looking for my... contact lens!" he said, going back to crawling across the ground, patting the carpet here and there and flustering other diners as he stuck his head under their chairs and tables.

"You don't wear contact lenses."

Ron's head shot up; unfortunately, at the time, he was peering under a chair. "Ow!" he cried again, rubbing the top of his head as he gently extricated himself to look up at Kim again. "Oh, right... uh, I meant I'm looking for... _her_ contact lens," he said, picking out a random woman from the other side of the room and pointing at her.

Kim cocked an eyebrow at him. "She asked you to help find her lost contact lens?"

"Yeah, well, you know—she must have recognized me as part of Team Possible. Helping people is what we do, right?"

"Yeah, and we've got bigger fish to fry," Kim said, reaching down and grabbing his hand to pull him to his feet. "Drakken and Shego just broke into the museum down the street!"

Ron weakly resisted her pull. "Yeah, but wait, I—" He stopped suddenly and did a double take. "Drakken and Shego? I thought they went straight years ago!"

"So did I," Kim said, tugging insistently. "But the security cameras don't lie. And if we're going to figure out what they're up to and stop them, we need to hurry up, so come on!"

"But Kim, I just—" Ron sputtered ineffectively as she dragged him toward the front of the restaurant. Just as she started to push through the door, he planted his feet and managed to halt her progress. Kim rounded on him and he quailed under her glare.

"Ron, what are you doing?"

"Just—go get the Sloth started and pick me up, okay?" he said. "I need to, uh... pay our bill! And ask the maître d' to help that lady find her contact lens."

Kim just rolled her eyes and went running out into the parking lot, calling back over her shoulder, "Hurry up!"

"Right!" Ron shouted back.

As soon as she was out of earshot, he spun around toward the man at the reservation desk. "Sir, you have to help me. I dropped an engagement ring back there under those tables somewhere, and—"

"Ah, congratulations, monsieur!"

"No, no, I didn't get to ask her yet, and now we have to go." He yanked his wallet from his pants and pulled out a stack of bills. "Look," he said, slapping the money into the man's already outstretched hand, "half of this is to pay for our dinner—we're that table over there, by the window—and the other half is for you if you find that ring for me and keep it safe until I can get back here later tonight. Okay?"

The man nodded, offering Ron an oily smile as he tucked the money into his jacket. "Oui, monsieur."

Outside, the distinctive sound of the Sloth's horn sounded in a few short bursts. Ron started toward the door, but then turned back, leaning in close to the other man's face, eyes narrowed. "Note serious face," he said, pointing at himself. "If I don't get that ring back, I'm holding you responsible. Got it?"

Taken off guard by the switch from goofy and desperate to determined and mildly threatening, the man nodded quickly. "Yes, sir, of course."

"Good," Ron said, running out into the night without a second glance. The maître d' just stood there staring after him. For just a split second, he could have sworn the young man's brown eyes had turned blue, almost as if they were... glowing.

* * *

><p>Shego plucked uncomfortably at the tight spandex of her jumpsuit. Once upon a time she'd worn this thing almost every day—it wasn't that long ago, really. So how could it feel so foreign to her now? And why was it riding up in all the wrong places?<p>

"Did you find it yet?" Drakken called out from the other end of the room.

Shego sighed. "If I had found it, I would have told you."

"Nnggh, fine, just checking. No need to get lippy."

She just rolled her eyes and continued walking down the row of shelves. They were in a storage room in the back of the museum, where exhibits not currently on display were kept. Unfortunately, it seemed that this museum had quite a few exhibits not on display; the whole room was filled with shelves and shelves full of various artifacts—and it was not a small room. What was the point of having all of this stuff if they weren't going to put it out for people to see? She was half-tempted to grab a few of the more valuable-looking items, but she reminded herself that they weren't here to steal. Well, they _were_ here to steal—but they were here to steal one particular thing, and they couldn't steal it until they found it, which was turning out to be a lot harder than she'd expected. She'd mocked Drakken earlier for suggesting that they turn on the lights—that wasn't how this sort of thing was done, and she was the expert when it came to this sort of thing—but now she was having second thoughts. Of course, to admit that she had been wrong would be even worse, so instead she just kept wandering through the shelves, eyes peeled for the object of their desire.

She stopped suddenly and held her breath, listening intently. Just when she was starting to think that she had been imagining things and was about to turn back to her search, she heard it again—footsteps outside the door. And voices, too. Three all too familiar voices...

"I found it!" Drakken called out.

"Good, because it sounds like the Cheer Squad just got here," Shego said. She fired up her fists and walked out into the open area of the room that faced the door. "Time to find out if that thing really works or if Monty's book was just blowing smoke."

Drakken emerged from one of the back rows of shelves, hastily stuffing a large dark object into a bag, which he then slung over his shoulder. "Don't worry, Shego," he said, coming up beside her. "I have a good feeling about this." Before she could even think to respond, he caught her off guard with an impulsive kiss.

"That's funny, Drakken." Both villains broke apart and gritted their teeth as they turned to face the doorway and the source of that annoyingly familiar voice. "Because so do I!" Kim called out as she did a quick flip that landed her just in front of them in a ready stance.

The green flames already surrounding Shego's hands flared. "Well, _I'm_feeling annoyed. How about you, Buffoon?" she asked as Ron came running up behind Kim.

Ron scratched the back of his head. "Um, mostly I'm just weirded out. Were you two just kissing?"

Shego just growled. "Okay, now that we've all expressed our feelings, what say we get down to business, huh?"

"My thoughts exactly, Shego," Kim said, offering a taunting smile as she beckoned with one hand. "Bring."

Needing no further provocation, the pale green woman launched herself at the redhead, fists blazing, and the two began their old familiar dance of flips, kicks, blocks and blows.

Ron and Drakken stood off to the side for a minute, just watching as the two women resumed their old rivalry as if they had never stopped. "Man," Ron said, head swiveling back and forth. "It's like déjà vu all over again."

Drakken grinned maliciously at him. "Except this time around," the blue man said, "they're not the only ones who can fight!" Ron screamed in surprise when a vine shot out of Drakken's neck and came flying at him.

"I thought you two went straight!" Kim said, dodging a punch to her face from Shego and countering with a side kick, which the green-skinned villainess handily batted away.

"What can I say, Princess?" Shego answered, aiming her punch lower this time. Kim blocked the blow and did a backwards flip to avoid a second attack. "Old habits die hard."

Before Kim could answer back, both women were distracted by Ron yelping, "Hey!" They both turned their attention toward him just in time to see his pants fall down around his ankles.

"Case in point," Shego said, snickering.

"Ron!" Kim cried, exasperated. He hadn't lost his pants like that in years, not since—

"His freaky plant thing stole my belt!" Ron cried out indignantly as he struggled to pull his pants back up.

"I'll show you freaky!" Drakken shouted. A vine shot out from his neck again, this time wrapping itself around Ron's body, completely immobilizing his arms and legs. Drakken laughed maniacally as he lifted Ron up off of the ground and shook him like a rag doll.

"Waahaaaa!" Ron shouted. "This is worse than the spinny rides at the fair."

"Ron!" Kim called out, frowning. "Quit monkeying around and start... monkeying around!"

"Right!" her boyfriend called back.

Shego took advantage of the distraction and resumed her attack, catching Kim off guard enough to land a few strikes before the girl could gather her wits. Kim was forced to turn her full attention toward the other woman and leave Ron to take care of himself. As she regained the offensive and launched a series of punches and kicks back at Shego, she comforted herself with the fact that, as he had said just the night before, Ron could handle things himself.

Ron, on the other hand, was suddenly not so sure. When Kim had told him to monkey up, it had actually caught him by surprise. Nowadays his monkey powers came to him so naturally in situations like this that he usually didn't have to actually think about activating them—it just sort of happened. So the fact that Kim had to actually remind him to use his powers was the first sign that something was wrong.

The second sign was that when he did stop and try to focus on calling up his MMP... nothing happened. His eyes snapped open, still their natural brown instead of glowing blue.

"Uh oh..."

_To be continued..._


	6. Thrown Off

_Disclaimer: Kim Possible and all related characters belong to Disney. I'm borrowing them for entertainment purposes only.  
><em>

_The further this story progresses, the more I realize how many balls I'm juggling—and the more I appreciate having someone to let me know when I'm in danger of dropping one. Thanks again to my beta Slipgate, for having my back._

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Five: Thrown Off<strong>

"Y'know," Shego said, grinning as she and Kim continued their fight, "I'm starting to think Dr. D was actually right about getting back into the villain game." She snuck in a quick strike to Kim's right shoulder that made the girl gasp and hop back, surprised. "I almost forgot just how fun it is to kick your butt."

Kim recovered from the hit quickly and flew at Shego with a flurry of kicks. "No worries _there_, Shego. You can't forget something that's never happened."

Across the room, Ron was struggling against Drakken's vines as they tightened around his body like a boa constrictor. Suddenly bereft of his monkey powers, he kicked, punched, scratched and even bit at the leafy green appendages, but Drakken didn't seem to feel a thing. Just as his head was beginning to feel fuzzy, Ron felt the vines finally loosen and release him—only to send him flying into one of the shelves that filled the room.

The force of Ron's nearly unconscious body being hurled into it knocked the shelf over with a loud groan—and it knocked the next shelf over, which knocked the next shelf over, until soon the room was filled with a cacophony of creaking metal and shattering glass as the various artifacts stored there crashed unceremoniously to the floor along with the huge shelves holding them.

Kim caught sight of Ron crashing into the first shelf out of the corner of her eye, and it was just the distraction that Shego needed to regain the upper hand. As Kim turned and yelled, "Ron!" the other woman spun around and landed a kick to Kim's chest that sent her flying across the room. Kim's momentum was stopped only when she hit the wall. She slumped down to the floor, groaning and holding her rib cage just as the last of the shelves toppled over, sending up a cloud of dust and debris.

Through the cloud, she could just make out Drakken and Shego's silhouettes as they surveyed the damage they had just wrought on the room and their former foes. "Nice one, Dr. D," Shego said. "Bowling with buffoons." The villainous duo shared a laugh and then quickly scuttled out of the room.

Kim could hear the sound of sirens in the distance now, but she knew that Drakken and Shego would have no trouble getting away before the police got a handle on the situation. Her mind was screaming at her to run after them, but her aching body protested that anything might be possible for a Possible—just not right now.

So she focused instead on pulling herself to her feet. She checked herself over carefully and methodically, mind in the analytical medical mode that her mother had taught her years ago. No concussion, no abrasions, nothing broken... well, her ribs were pretty sore, but she was fairly certain they were only bruised. She'd have her mom check them later, but for now, she was well enough. More than well enough to do what her heart had been screaming at her to do since the second she stood up, though she had disciplined herself to ignore it. She'd be no good to Ron if she was too hurt to help herself.

She stumbled through the debris now scattered across the tile floor, calling out, "Ron? Are you okay?"

There was a groan from somewhere off to her left, and part of the debris pile shifted slightly. "Ron!"

Ron sat up slowly as she approached, and Kim reached down and helped pull him to his feet, sending shards of clay and glass clattering to the floor. "Are you all right?" she asked, gently running her fingers over him to check for injuries.

Ron rubbed the back of his head and winced, but stayed her hand. "Yeah, I'm fine," he said, offering her a brave smile. "I've gotten worse sacks than that on the football field."

Kim stared into his eyes. He seemed alert enough, and though the smile was forced, the fact that he had the foresight to try at least was a good sign. "Okay," she said, taking his hand. "Let's get out of here."

They helped each other out of the room and began walking toward the museum's entrance, expecting to meet up with the police on the way. Instead, the first person they ran into was a well-dressed man with a receding hairline, a dark curling moustache, and a harried expression. "Oh, Team Possible," he cried, rushing toward them. "Thank goodness!"

Kim and Ron stared at him dazedly. "I'm the head curator of the museum, Robert McCorkle," he explained hurriedly in a British accent. "I came over as soon as I heard there'd been a break in. What a relief to find you here."

Kim and Ron exchanged a worried glance, but before they could reply, Officer Hobble and another younger officer came striding up after him, looking a little out of breath. "Sorry about this," Hobble said, with a nod at the curator. "We tried to tell him to stay outside until we could secure the scene, but he wouldn't listen."

The man stared down his long nose at the pudgy officer. "I wasn't going to just stand aside and wait for your men to get in here and protect my museum," he said huffily. "Thank goodness Team Possible was here or I'm sure the culprits would have gotten away."

"Um," Kim interrupted reluctantly, "actually... they did get away, sir."

He turned toward her and blinked. "Oh. Well... but I've been all through the exhibits, and nothing's missing, so at least you kept them from getting whatever they came for."

Kim shuffled her feet and looked at Ron, who could only shrug. "I don't think we managed that either Mr. McCorkle. They weren't after anything in any of the exhibits as far as we could tell; they were just in that room in the back."

"Oh," he said. "That's the storage room. And you think they took something from it?"

Ron stepped forward. "Well, Drakken did have a bag on his back with something in it, but neither of us got a good look at what it was."

"Hmm," he said, marching past the two teens. "Well, the good news is, I keep everything in there catalogued and in perfect order, so it should be quite easy to tell exactly what's missing so you can get right on with retrieving it."

Ron and Kim shared a look of panic and ran after him. "Um, Mr. McCorkle," Ron called out, "about that..."

"There's something you should know," Kim cried as he reached for the door handle, "about the—"

Before she could finish her warning, though, he pulled the door open and stood frozen there in the doorway.

It was a few seconds before he made any move whatsoever, and then he put his hands to his head as if in pain. "Wh-wh—" His jaw worked a few times before he finally wailed, "What did you do?"

He didn't give the teens a chance to answer—which was just as well, since they really couldn't think of anything appropriate to say in this situation—but instead stumbled into the room and began sifting through the rubble, mumbling to himself like a man crazy with grief. "No, no, no, oh no."

Hobble came up behind Kim and Ron and whistled through his teeth when he saw the state of the storage room. "Johnson," he ordered the younger officer who'd come in with him, "you stay here with Mr. McCorkle. Try to get him to calm down."

"Yes, sir."

Hobble nodded and turned to Kim and Ron. "Miss Possible, Mr. Stoppable, let's get you outside and I'll get your statement."

Kim and Ron nodded and followed him silently through the museum and out the front door, into the damp night air now lit with spinning lights of red and blue.

Half an hour later, the couple had finished telling Hobble everything that had happened. A few officers were on the roof, checking the site where the hover craft had been landed, and a few more had ventured into the museum to examine the chaotic crime scene, but most of the cars that had come at the first call had already left the scene. A dark quiet fell over Kim and Ron as they leaned against the trunk of Hobble's car and waited for him to give them the go-ahead to leave.

Officer Johnson finally emerged from the museum with McCorkle in tow. When the curator looked up and saw Kim and Ron standing there, his expression switched instantly from dazed to furious.

"You!" he shouted, lurching toward the two teens. "It will take days if not weeks to clean up all of—" He waved his hands toward the museum— "That! So not only do we not know what was stolen by those vile thieves, but dozens if not hundreds of valuable artifacts have been damaged beyond all repair!"

Ron couldn't help himself. What was supposed to be the best night of his life had taken a seriously bad turn, and now to top it all off he was getting yelled at? He snapped. "Well, if all that junk was so valuable, why was it just sitting locked up in that room collecting dust?"

"Ron!" Kim hissed.

McCorkle looked almost ready to take a swing at the young man, but Johnson wisely stepped between them. He placed a hand on the curator's shoulder and steered him in the other direction. "Now, Mr. McCorkle, it's the thieves you're really angry at. Team Possible was only trying to help, you know that."

"Well, I wish they hadn't 'tried' to help," he said, allowing himself to be led away but still glaring daggers at Kim and Ron over his shoulder. "Because all they succeeded in was making matters worse!"

Kim and Ron both cringed. "Ah, don't worry about him," Hobble said. "You know how it is in this line of work. They either complain that you weren't there or complain that you were. With some people, you just can't win."

The teens nodded, but their hangdog expressions remained firmly in place. Hobble sighed. Maybe they _didn't_ know. For the most part, Team Possible had gotten nothing but good press and grateful citizens in response to their exploits over the years. Of course, it helped that they usually didn't screw things up this badly. The officer shook his head—no use saying anything like that. The kids were discouraged enough as it was.

"Look," he said, "I think we've gotten all we can for now. You two should get on home and get some rest."

With a pair of half-hearted nods and mumbled 'thank you's, Kim and Ron obediently shuffled over to the Sloth, climbed in, and drove away.

* * *

><p>An outside observer might have said that the couple's car ride home was as quiet as it had been the night before. But to Kim and Ron themselves, the thick, defeated silence that filled the car now was as different as could be from the sleepy, companionable silence of the night before.<p>

It was Kim who finally broke it. "Why didn't you monkey up?"

"I—I don't know," Ron said. "I just... couldn't."

Kim's brow creased. "What? Why not?"

Ron had been scrambling internally to find the answer to that question ever since Kim had pulled him from the storage room rubble. There was only one thing he could think of that made tonight's mission different from any other mission he'd gone on since he mastered his powers—what had happened before it... or rather, what _hadn't_. The proposal. "Maybe it was nerves," he said.

"Nerves?" Kim asked, looking at him skeptically. Ron instantly regretted not keeping his big dumb mouth shut.

"Uhhh..."

"With Drakken and Shego?"

"Well, yeah, because... we haven't faced them in a long time!" he said, grappling for the first excuse he could think of. "And plus, my pants fell down!"

"That never used to bother you."

"Well, it's been a long time since that happened, too!"

Kim just sighed and turned her attention back to the road.

Ron slumped down in his seat. "You're mad."

"Yes."

He slumped down further.

"No." Kim sighed again, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I'm not mad."

Ron sat up just a little, gazing over at her hopefully.

"I'm disappointed."

What she didn't add, because she thought it ought to be obvious, was "in myself."

What Ron heard, because he couldn't imagine she meant anything else, was "in you."

And so they both sat there, sharing the same misery but not knowing it, as they rode on toward home.

* * *

><p>Kim pulled the Sloth into her family's driveway, and they both climbed out. It was Ron who spoke first this time. "Could I... walk you to your door, KP?"<p>

Kim managed a small smile and held her hand out. "Of course." Ron took the offered hand and they walked slowly toward the house. "I'm sorry our date got ruined."

"That's okay," Ron said. "It was nice while it lasted, right?"

Kim nodded. "I could tell you really went all out."

"Thanks, KP. I just wanted..." His voice trailed off.

"What?" Kim prodded.

"Nothing," he said, looking away unhappily. Kim was the one person in the world he'd always been able to share anything and everything with, and now he had this one huge thing that he was practically bursting to tell his best friend, but he couldn't—not yet—and he was absolutely hating it. What had been anticipation before tonight had turned into a bitter anxiety.

He missed the look of hurt that flashed in Kim's eyes when he turned away. She could tell that he was keeping something from her, but what? The last time he'd been this secretive was back before they were even dating—back when she was with Eric and he was suffering silently through it, or at least trying to, determined not to step on her happiness by revealing his own misery. Granted, he'd done a pretty poor job of hiding his feelings, but at the time she'd been just as determined not to notice them, or at least not to understand the meaning behind them. Now she desperately _wanted_ to know what was wrong, and he wouldn't let her in.

"It's getting late," she said as they reached the front door. "I should get inside."

Ron just nodded, and then, out of habit as much as anything else, leaned in for a goodnight kiss. Somewhat reassured by the familiar gesture, Kim moved to meet him. But just before their lips could touch, the front door swung open.

"Hey, kids," James said, grinning obliviously as Kim and Ron blinked up at him.

"You two got back later than we expected," Ann said from his side, looking back and forth between the pair expectantly.

Kim stared back at them for a long moment. "Mom? Dad? It's almost midnight. Since when do you guys stay up this late?"

"Oh, well, we just couldn't sleep dear," Ann said. "We've been too excited!"

Kim frowned at her. "Excited about what?"

Ann started to open her mouth to reply—which was right when she noticed Ron standing behind Kim, frantically shaking his head and slashing a finger across his throat.

James coughed, having noticed Ron's wild gesturing also—as well as something else that had slipped the notice of his usually perceptive wife. "We're just still excited to have you home again, Kimmiecub. And out on your first mission back, I see," he said, gesturing to the mission clothes that she and Ron still wore.

"Yeah," Kim muttered as she brushed past her parents, heading into the living room. "Great."

James and Ann turned questioning glances to Ron, but all he could do with Kim around the corner was shrug miserably.

"What happened, sweetie?" Ann asked as the three of them followed Kim into the living room.

"Drakken and Shego are back," Kim said, scowling at the names.

"Drew and his show person lady friend?" James asked, frowning in confusion. "I thought they gave up the whole evil thing."

"Yeah, so did we," Ron said.

"And we don't even know why they're back at it," Kim said, throwing up her hands in frustration, "because they got away!"

Ron cringed as he saw James and Ann both open their mouths, undoubtedly to ask how that had happened. He was relieved when they were interrupted by the sound of someone knocking at the front door—until he peered through the living room window and saw who it was. "Oh no," he whispered to himself as Ann went to answer it. He wanted to shout at her to stop, to run after her and grab her, but neither his mouth nor his feet seemed to want to cooperate, and then it was too late. The door was open, and there stood his parents, both grinning just as widely as the Possibles had been a few minutes earlier.

"Hello, Ann," Jean Stoppable said, "I hope you don't mind us coming over, but we saw that the kids were finally home and we just couldn't wait." Before Ann had a chance to say anything to her, she had craned her head around and spotted Kim and Ron standing there. And unlike the Possibles, she was totally oblivious to her son as he stood behind his girlfriend and frantically shook his head and waved his arms, mouthing "No!"

"Oh, there they are!" she cried, stepping into the Possibles' living room with her husband in tow. Before Kim could even begin to decipher the woman's oddly boisterous mood, Jean Stoppable had wrapped her in a tight hug. "Congratulations!" she said into the younger woman's ear. Ron waved his hands more frantically, and James and Ann even joined in, but it was all to no avail.

"Mom," Ron cried, grinning nervously as he inserted himself between her and Kim, "Kim and I have been on tons of missions before—it's no big." He stared desperately at his mother, willing her to get the hint.

"Missions?" Jean repeated, staring back at him, puzzled. She opened her mouth to say something more, but this time it was Kim who cut her off.

"Yeah, and this one certainly wasn't worthy of any congratulating." She sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "I don't mean to be rude, Mr. and Mrs. Stoppable, but it's late and I've had kind of a bad night. Would you mind?" she asked, pointing up the stairs.

"Oh... oh, of course not, Kimberly," Jean said, obviously still quite confused but at least attempting to play along. "You go on and get to bed, dear."

"Thanks," Kim said. She gave Ron a quick peck on the cheek before trudging wearily up the stairs. Halfway up, she turned back a little. "And, uh, thanks for the congratulations, too. I guess it is nice to be back anyway," she said half-heartedly, then continued up to her room.

Once they heard her door click shut, all eyes turned toward Ron. He looked back at all of them, unsure what to say, before slumping down onto the couch, defeated.

"Son," Gene said, "what happened?" The other three parents all nodded as they took seats around the living room.

Ron threw up his hands helplessly. "Everything was perfect—I mean really perfect. I was just about to propose, and then..." All four parents leaned forward in their seats, expectantly. "The Kimmunicator rang." All four parents sat back, groaning.

"And knowing Kimmiecub, she didn't let it wait," James said with a nod.

Seeing Ron's face fall even further, Ann quickly added, "To be fair, dear, she didn't know what Ron was planning or I'm sure she would have."

"That's right, Ronald," Gene said, putting a hand on Ron's shoulder. "Don't get discouraged."

"But what am I gonna do now?" Ron asked miserably. "Everything was going just like I planned, and just like that, it's all ruined. I can't take her back to Chez Couteaux again—that would just be weird."

"Oh, you'll think of something, Ronnie," Jean said, giving him a hug. "Maybe we can help." James, Ann and Gene all nodded their agreement.

"I have to ask, though, Son," Gene said, "did you give any thought to the idea of just asking her after the mission was over?"

"You saw KP just now, Dad. That mission was such a disaster—and it was all my fault, too. I couldn't ask her after that. And even if I'd wanted to, the ring—"

He stopped suddenly, eyes wide. "Oh no!" he cried, jumping to his feet. "The ring!"

Without another word, he ran toward the front door, then spun around and came running back. "Dad, can I borrow your car, please?"

"Sure, Son," Gene replied, confused but willing to help in any way he could. He pulled his keys from his pocket and tossed them to Ron.

"Thanks," Ron threw over his shoulder as he charged out the door .

The two sets of parents were left sitting there in the living room as they heard the Stoppables' car peal out of the driveway and go speeding off down the street.

It was James who finally spoke. "All right, now what are we going to do to help Ronald pull off this proposal?"

_To be continued..._

* * *

><p><em>In my excitement to share this story, I've been posting new chapters roughly once a week so far. Unfortunately, though my enthusiasm for the story certainly hasn't waned, I don't think I'm going to be able to keep up that schedule. My job has been a bit of a bear lately, and I also just want to make sure I take the time to get each chapter just right. So my plan is to move to posting every other week now. I can't say how much I really appreciate all of the amazing support you guys have given this story so far, and I hope you'll keep enjoying it even though things are slowing down.—PJC <em>


	7. Secret Ingredients

_Disclaimer: Kim Possible still belongs to the House of Mouse. This little lab rat's just borrowing them for fun, not profit._

_Thanks once more to Slipgate for beta-reading; on this chapter especially, his comments, suggestions and ideas have been invaluable._

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Six: Secret Ingredients<strong>

"Oof!"

Ron woke up the same way he had most mornings that summer—suddenly, with the weight of a four-year-old bouncing onto his belly.

"Morning, Brother!" Hana called out cheerfully.

"Good morning, Han," Ron groaned. "I don't suppose I could get another five minutes, huh? Where's the snooze button on you?" Hana giggled as he poked her belly button.

Ron let his eyes slide shut again, hoping that maybe she really would leave and let him get a little more sleep. After the way the previous day had gone, he wasn't exactly looking forward to facing another one.

He had made it back to Chez Couteaux just as they were closing up for the night and, true to his word, the maître d' had been waiting there with the ring safely in hand. Ron had been so relieved he'd hugged the surprised man. But that was about the only good thing he had to show for the night. He had the ring, but he had no idea where to go from here.

"Brother's getting married!"

Ron's eyes snapped open again. "What did you just say, Hana?"

"You're getting married!" she said, all too happy to repeat herself. "Kimmie's gonna marry you, and she's gonna wear a big pretty white dress, and I get to wear a dress, too, and be the flour girl. That means I pour flour everywhere, like Kimmie did when she tried to make you a cake for your birthday. Oh, there's gonna be a big fancy cake, too, with lots of frosting, and I get my very own piece!"

Ron sat up, causing the little girl to slide down into his lap, where she continued her excited babbling. "Moooommm!" he cried out.

Both of his parents appeared in the doorway a minute later, looking concerned. "What's the matter, Ronnie?" his mother asked.

"You told Hana I was proposing?"

"Of course I did," Jean said, walking into the room and picking up the little girl. "She's your sister. Why wouldn't you want her to know you're getting engaged?"

"Because she's _four_, Mom. She repeats everything she hears and she doesn't know how to keep a secret."

"Well, I didn't know there was going to be a secret to keep after last night," Jean said defensively, and Ron's shoulders slumped.

Gene came to his wife's side and took their daughter from her. "We'll work on the concept of 'secrets' with Hana, Ronald. You just concentrate on fixing dinner and don't worry about anything else."

"Dinner?" Ron asked.

"Oh, that's right," Jean said. "You were so exhausted by the time you finally got home last night, we didn't tell you."

"Tell me what?" Ron asked, looking back and forth between his parents worriedly.

"Just that we thought of another way for you to propose to Kimberly, Son," his father said.

"We?"

"Us and James and Ann," Gene explained. "After you took off last night. We thought maybe we could help."

"What is it?" Ron asked, still looking uncertain.

"We thought you could make a nice, big dinner for both of our families tonight," Jean said, "and then propose during the meal."

Ron gulped. "In front of everybody?"

"Well, yes, dear."

"We know it's not exactly a private romantic evening like you were planning before," Gene said, "but you did say you didn't want to do the same thing on your second try."

"And Kim's so close to her parents," Jean continued. "We thought she would appreciate you proposing to her at a nice family dinner like that. We _are_ all going to be family soon, after all." Ron smiled appreciatively at his mother's optimism.

"Only if you want to, of course, Ronald," Gene said, as he set Hana down on the ground. "This is still your proposal. We just wanted to help out with a suggestion, like we said."

Ron sat and thought about it for a minute. It _was_ one more idea than he'd been able to come up with in his fitful sleep. And while it wasn't the romantic night he had planned originally, maybe it could be romantic in its own way. Certainly it was going to take more courage to propose in front of everyone, and there was something romantic in that, wasn't there? He could make the perfect meal for her, too. Chez Couteaux was nice, but it had nothing on Chez Ron.

And the sooner he proposed, the sooner Kim would understand why he'd been so preoccupied on the mission last night.

He smiled and nodded. "I think it's a great idea," he said, standing up and pulling his parents into a hug. "Thanks, you guys. This is going to be perfect."

Down at their feet, Hana clapped. "Brother's getting married!" Ron groaned as Gene and Jean quickly ushered the little girl out of his room, promising a good long talk on the subject of secrets.

* * *

><p>Down the street, Kim woke up almost as reluctantly as Ron had. She touched her ribs gingerly, wincing as she hit a sore spot on the right side that she was certain was exactly the size and shape of Shego's boot.<p>

"I thought I noticed you favoring your right side when you went up the stairs last night."

Kim sat up with a look of surprise to find her mother sitting on the end of her bed. She lay back with a frown. It wasn't the first time her mother had been able to sneak up on her, but after the night she'd just had, it vexed her. "I'm fine," she muttered. "Nothing broken."

"Why don't you let me be the judge of that?" Ann said as she got up and walked over to the right side of the bed.

Kim sighed, but obediently pulled her shirt up to let her mother get a look. She did her best not to squirm or hiss as Ann prodded the large purple bruise. "What happened?"

"Shego," Kim said. When her mother raised her eyebrows, asking silently for further explanation, she added, "She kicked me. Hard—obviously."

Ann frowned. "What happened to Ron?"

Kim sat up with a scowl. "Why?" she snapped. "I should have been able to handle Shego with or without Ron."

Ann's frown deepened. "That's not what I meant, Kim. I meant, I assume that something happened to Ron to distract you long enough for Shego to be able to land this kick."

"Oh," Kim said, abashed. "Well, yes, that's true. He... he was fighting Drakken and got thrown into some shelves. After losing his pants."

"Was he all right?"

"Yeah, a little banged up, but he seemed fine."

Ann paused, pursing her lips. "Are _you_ all right?"

"Yes, Mom," Kim answered impatiently. "I told you, I'm just a little sore. And didn't you just check me over for yourself?"

"That's not what I meant either, Kim," Ann replied, staring seriously into her daughter's eyes.

Kim opened her mouth, not sure what she planned to say, when the phone rang from her bedside table.

_Brrrnnng!_

Kim broke away from her mother's scrutinizing gaze to look at the caller ID. "That's Monique, Mom. I'd better answer," she said, doing little to conceal her relief at the interruption.

Ann sighed. "All right," she said, walking toward the door. "See you in a few minutes for breakfast?"

"Sure," Kim said, nodding distractedly as she picked up the phone. "Hey, Monique."

"Don't 'hey, Monique' _me_, girl," her friend answered sharply.

Kim stared at the phone, confused. "Ummm..."

"I tried to wait patiently, I really did, but it's almost nine o'clock. I cannot believe you haven't called me to STB! I thought I was your best friend!"

Kim shook her head, trying to decide which of the many questions currently swirling through her head to ask first. She settled on the most obvious one. "STB?"

"Spill the beans!" Monique explained impatiently.

"About what?"

"_Hello?_ About last night, of course!"

"Last night?" Kim could only think of one significant thing that had happened last night, and although she couldn't really fathom why Monique would have any interest in it, her still sleepy brain insisted that it must be what her friend was referring to. "Oh, Monique, I really don't want to talk about it."

"What?" Monique exclaimed. "How can you not want to talk about it?"

"I don't think it's that hard to understand why I wouldn't want to relive it, Monique. It was awful!"

"Awful?"

"Yes, awful! So you'll forgive me if I don't feel like giving you the blow by blow." Kim paused for a moment. "How do you even know about it anyway? Did Wade tell you again?"

"N-no. I just—"

"Oh no," she interrupted with a groan. "It's not on the news, is it?"

"Now you're getting a little big-headed, Kim," Monique shot back. "But would it really be so terrible if it _was_ on the news?"

"Yes!" Kim cried. "It would be totally embarrassing!"

"Kim, I can't believe you! Even if, from the sound of it, things didn't go exactly the way Ron planned—"

"The way _Ron_ planned?" Kim interrupted again, temper flaring. "Ron may have been in charge of the missions all summer, but_ I_ was back in the lead last night. And I should have been able to take Drakken and Shego down no problem."

"Drakken and Shego?" Monique asked. "What do _they_ have to do with it?"

Kim blinked. "They're the ones who broke into the museum last night—and the ones who got away from me and Ron." She paused again. "Who did you think we were talking about?"

On the other end of the line, the pieces of the puzzle were quickly clicking into place for Monique—at least enough for her to realize that she and Kim had been having two completely unrelated conversations for the last five minutes. "Oh," she stammered, "I just—the news didn't say who did the, uh... break-in. And Drakken and Shego—haven't they been out of the evil game for a few years now?"

"Yeah," Kim muttered, already tired of hearing that question—especially since her own mind kept repeating it. "That's what we thought, too."

"Wow," Monique said, still processing. "So... sounds like you had a pretty eventful night."

Kim sighed. "You could say that, yeah."

"But, uh... nothing else new to report?"

"Let's see: Drakken and Shego are back, they stole something from the museum, we don't know what or why, and I let them get away like a total amateur," Kim said. "Nope, I think that pretty much covers it."

"Okay..." Monique said slowly. "Well, let me know first thing if there are any new developments—you know, on the Drakken and Shego front... or anything else that might come up..."

Kim was still puzzled by Monique's sudden interest in her mission work, but her curiosity was overshadowed by a twinge of guilt for snapping at first her mother and now her best friend. She resolved then and there that she wouldn't do the same to Ron when she saw him. It wasn't his fault, and anyway, snapping at him wouldn't help with getting him to open up about what was bothering him.

"Sure, Monique. I'll ask Wade to keep you up to date—he should appreciate that," she said with a little smile.

"Kim..." Monique warned.

"Sorry," Kim said quickly. "And sorry for jumping down your throat. It's nice of you to care."

"Hey, as a friend of mine likes to say, no big. TTYL, okay?"

"Yeah, okay," Kim said. She dropped the phone back into its cradle and climbed out of bed.

As she descended the stairs, she was greeted by a wonderful aroma. "Whatever you're cooking for breakfast, Mom, it smells delicious," she said as she rounded the corner into the kitchen—only to find herself nose to nose not with her mother, but with Ron.

"Morning, KP," he said, giving her a cheerful smile as he stirred something vigorously in a bowl. "Glad you like it, but it's not for breakfast—sorry."

Kim looked around the kitchen, confused. "Ron, what are you doing?"

Her mother walked into the kitchen at that moment. "Oh, I forgot to tell you earlier, Kimmie," she said. "We thought it would be nice to have a big family dinner with the Stoppables tonight, and of course Ron wanted to be the one to cook it."

"And since your dining room is bigger than ours," Ron chimed in, "it made more sense to have it over here—so it made more sense to cook it over here, too. Though I do have a couple of dishes going in the oven at home, too."

"A couple of dishes?" Kim echoed as she looked around the kitchen again. She could make out the silhouette of one thing in the Possibles' oven, there were two pots bubbling on the stovetop, and bowls and measuring cups were scattered across the counter. "What are you planning on feeding us, Ron, a ten-course meal?"

Ron just smiled and gave her a quick kiss as he walked by on his way to the refrigerator. "Nothing but the best for you, KP."

"Don't you mean 'us?'" she asked.

"Huh?"

"Nothing but the best for _us_," she said. "You did say this was a family dinner, right?"

"Oh, right. Of course—that's what I meant," Ron said, cracking two eggs and pouring their contents into his bowl with practiced ease. "A big family dinner." He looked up at her uncertainly. "That sounds nice... right?"

Kim smiled and leaned over to kiss him, letting her lips linger a little longer than his had a few moments earlier. "It sounds wonderful," she said. "Guess I'd better leave you to it then."

Ron pouted. "You could stay and help."

"Nuh uh," Kim said, shaking her head and laughing. "You just said you wanted this to be a _nice_ dinner, remember?"

With one last kiss to his cheek, she sauntered out of the kitchen, already feeling better than she had when she'd woken up.

Ron's eyes lingered on her as she walked away, forgetting for a moment all about the bowl of batter in his hands that he was supposed to be stirring.

Though neither of them would have guessed it, at that moment they both had the same thought: _Today has got to be better than yesterday_.

* * *

><p>There were some things that, no matter how hard she tried, Kim was never going to be as good at as Ron. Cooking was near the top of the list. At one time that had rankled her over-competitive nature, but over the years she had learned to accept and even appreciate it. It helped that she got to reap the benefits of Ron's culinary skill.<p>

It also helped that when Ron was doing something he loved, he was utterly adorable. Of course, she would never have admitted to that particular perk back when they first took home ec together. But she had no qualms about enjoying it now. So despite her earlier teasing, Kim did venture back into the kitchen after showering and getting dressed.

She giggled when she found Ron with his back to her, humming and dancing along to an Oh Boyz song playing on the little portable radio he'd set up on the counter. Ron spun around and gave her a goofy grin that melted her heart, then stuck a spatula up to his mouth like a microphone and started singing at the top of his lungs. "Hello, hello, hellooo, can you heeear me noooow…"

After the impromptu serenade, and a round of amused applause from Kim, Ron got back to work. Kim stayed in the kitchen, chatting and joking with him, and even helping out a bit—even she could chop vegetables. A few times she considered bringing up last night, but he was in such a good mood now that she was loathe to remind him of whatever had been weighing on him before. She decided instead to boost his already high spirits and trust that if something really was wrong, he'd tell her when he was ready. Around noon she left without offering any explanation. His eyes lit up with pleased surprise when she walked back into the kitchen half an hour later with two bags of Bueno Nacho for lunch.

Kim didn't spend all day in the kitchen, though. After lunch, she went out to the backyard and ran through several katas, hands and feet slicing through the humid air with practiced precision. Then she challenged Jim and Tim to a few sparring matches—ostensibly to evaluate their skills, but also to sharpen her own. The next time Drakken and Shego showed up, she was going to be ready.

* * *

><p>"Ron says it'll be just a few more minutes," Ann said as she greeted the rest of the Stoppables at the door that evening.<p>

"Of course," Jean said with a smile. "Is there anything I can help with?"

"Well, I was just setting the table."

While Gene went to find James in his study, Jean followed Ann into the dining room, with Hana trailing along behind them. As soon as the little girl entered the room, her eyes locked onto the elaborate glass chandelier that hung over the table. "Ooh, pretty!" she cried, running forward.

Jean grabbed her arm, halting her with practiced ease. "Only look, Hana," she said firmly. "No touching."

Hana pouted a little, but nodded obediently.

Ann couldn't help but chuckle. Most parents wouldn't have any need to warn a four-year-old to not touch something that was eight feet off the ground, but Hana, she knew, was... unique. And as the mother of three other unique children, she could relate.

"It_ is_ quite lovely, Ann," Jean said, admiring the hundreds of glittering glass facets.

"Oh, thank you," Ann said, handing her some forks. "With the boys leaving for college soon, I convinced James it might finally be safe to get something a little fancier."

"Perfect for a special occasion," Jean said, and the two mothers shared a secret smile.

"Dinner's ready!" Ron called out from the kitchen.

Kim hadn't been far off the mark when she'd asked Ron if he was planning a ten-course meal. The two families chatted amiably as they made their way through his fresh-baked rolls, summer salad and butternut squash soup. Ron and Kim answered questions about their plans for their senior year of college, and the Tweebs chimed in with stories about their recent tour of MIST, which prompted quite a bit of reminiscing from the other adults about their own college days.

But as the meal progressed to the main course, a prime rib roast with twice-baked potatoes and asparagus, they soon fell into a companionable silence, interrupted only by the sound of forks and knives scraping plates. Ron had outdone himself.

Rufus, at his designated spot next to Ron's plate, patted his distended belly contentedly, and let out a loud belch.

"Rufus," Ron hissed, frowning at him. He didn't normally make any complaints about his little buddy's table manners—or lack thereof—but tonight was special. He was pretty sure Kim's idea of a perfect evening didn't include burping hairless rodents.

But Kim didn't look bothered in the least, and James Possible actually chuckled as he leaned back in his chair and patted his own stomach. "Well, Ronald," he said, "I agree with Rufus. That was absolutely delicious."

There were murmurs of agreement from around the table, and Ron was more than a little pleased to see Kim smiling proudly at him. "Thanks," he said, "but it's not quite over yet. There's still dessert!"

That announcement prompted a mixture of groans and laughs from the other eight people sitting around the table.

"But first," Ron continued, standing up from the table and lifting his glass into the air, "I'd like to propose a toast."

James, Ann, Gene and Jean all grinned expectantly. And Gene clamped a hand over Hana's mouth, just in case.

Ron took a deep breath, drawing strength from their encouraging smiles, then focused his attention on Kim alone and lifted his glass a little higher. "To Kim," he said. "I—ack!" he cried out as something crashed into the glass, sending cider and shards of glass raining down on the table.

"Yeah, direct hit!" Jim cried, high-fiving his brother.

"Hicka bicka boo!"

"Hoosha!"

Ron was still standing there, blinking at the stem of his broken glass. He finally looked up to see what had just crashed into it, expecting to see the Tweebs' usual rocket or missile. Instead he saw... a Viking ship?

"Tweebs!" Kim shouted.

"It was your idea, Kim," Tim said.

"Yeah," Jim nodded, shrugging. "You _told_ us we could make them more high-tech."

"We're just testing out the prototype."

Kim looked ready to launch herself across the table to wring her smugly grinning brothers' necks. Ron, still recovering from his shock, was just cognizant enough to decide that he wouldn't try to stop her if she tried; he might even help. After all, she had no idea how angry she really should be. As far as she knew, all they had interrupted was what probably would have been a sweet if clumsy toast from her boyfriend.

Before Kim or anyone else could do anything, though, Hana slipped out from under her father's hand, hopped out of her chair, and, giggling wildly, went running up the wall and across the ceiling, arms outstretched toward the little wooden ship that was still zipping around the room.

"Cool!" Jim and Tim exclaimed together, and Jim pulled out the remote control he'd hidden under the table and began steering the ship around, trying his best to keep it out of the little girl's reach.

Everyone else just sat there, dumbfounded and dizzy from following the ship and the little girl as they whizzed around the room at lightning speed—narrowly avoiding collision with Ann's new chandelier more than once—until a familiar sound broke them all out of their stupor.

_Beep beep ba deep!_

Kim glared at the Tweebs one more time, gave Ron an apologetic look, and stepped toward the living room. "I'd better get this," she mumbled. Hitting a button on her wrist Kimmunicator, she saw Wade's familiar smiling face appear. "What's up, Wade?"

Wade lifted an eyebrow. "Uh, what's all that noise behind you?"

"Dinner with the fam," Kim said, distancing herself further from the cacophony. "_Fams_, actually—mine and Ron's."

"Ah, that explains it."

"Yeah." Kim sighed.

"Sorry to interrupt."

Kim shook her head. "No need to apologize. You probably saved the Tweebs' lives. So—news?"

Wade shook his head. "Just wanted to update you on our progress, but I don't really have anything to report just yet. I did get the curator of the museum to give me access to his electronic records on everything that was in that storage room before you guys, uh... before Drakken and Shego trashed it." Kim winced. "He seemed, um... kind of reluctant to let me in when I mentioned I was with Team Possible..."

Kim pinched the bridge of her nose. "Long story, Wade."

He nodded, knowing better than to pry any further. "Well, anyway, I've been searching through the files trying to figure out what Drakken and Shego might have been after... but it's kind of hard to know what to look for. Hitting a museum was never exactly their M.O."

Kim frowned. She hadn't stopped to think about that. "You're right," she said. "Secret government labs were always more their style."

"Maybe they're working for someone else?" Wade suggested.

Kim considered the idea for a moment, but shook her head. "No. Shego's a mercenary, but Drakken? He'd never work for anyone but himself."

"I don't know, Kim. A lot can change in a few years." Kim gave him a skeptical look. "You did say you saw them—" he shuddered— "kissing, right? Would you have guessed they'd be doing_ that_ a few years ago?"

Kim allowed a small smirk. "No, I guess not. But where does that leave us?"

"Well, I'll run a cross-check between the museum's records and all the 'evil' want ads for a start," Wade said, running his fingers across the keyboard with his usual efficiency. "And I'll keep an eye and an ear out for any sightings of our old friends in blue and green."

"Thanks, Wade. You rock as always."

Meanwhile, in the dining room, the adults around the table had finally gotten over their surprise and jumped into action.

Ann Possible got up from her seat and came to stand behind Jim and Tim, who were still laughing as they took turns piloting their rocket-powered Viking ship around the room. "Boys," Ann hissed, grabbing each of her sons by an ear.

"Ow, Mom!" Tim yelped in surprise, dropping the remote to the table. With no one controlling it, the ship crashed into a wall and crumpled to the floor in a smoldering heap.

"What's the big deal?" Jim cried.

"What's the big deal?" Ann echoed angrily. "Ron is trying to propose to your sister, and you two are ruining it!"

The twins' eyes grew wide, and they both turned toward Ron. "What?"

Ron just nodded at them and slumped down in his seat.

"Why didn't you say so?" Tim asked.

"Yeah," Jim said. "We just wanted to make dinner interesting, but if we'd known you were proposing—"

"Even we wouldn't try to screw _that_ up," Tim finished.

"That's great," Ron muttered under his breath, "because I can screw it up all on my own. No help necessary."

"What's that, Ronald?" James asked.

"Nothing." Ron sighed, forcing himself to sit up straighter.

"I'm sorry," Ann said, as she released her hold on Jim and Tim's ears—after giving them a final tweak that the boys knew meant '_we'll discuss this later._' "I just assumed you had told the boys, too, Ron."

"Yeah," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I guess this proves that I should have. Sorry, guys, I just didn't think about it."

His mother gave him a comforting smile. "You've had a lot on your mind lately, Ronnie."

He shook his head and sighed again. "Well, now that everybody knows what's going on, can we please try to salvage this dinner and act normal for just a few minutes—for KP?"

"Of course, Son," Gene said. "Hana," he called out to the blur still zipping around the walls and ceiling of the dining room, apparently not really caring that there was no longer anything to chase.

The little girl skidded to a stop immediately. She just happened to be right in the middle of the ceiling as she did so. "Yes, Daddy?" she asked, smiling sweetly at him as her pigtails hung down above her ears.

"Do you remember what we talked about—when you're a guest at someone else's house...?"

"Manners?" she said, in the same tone that she usually reserved for words like "medicine" and "bedtime."

Gene nodded. "That's right. And how do we show our manners?"

"No running on the ceiling?"

He nodded again and pointed firmly at her empty chair. In the blink of an eye, the little girl was down off the ceiling and sitting in her seat, hands folded in her lap, looking for all the world like a perfectly normal—and perfectly well-behaved—little girl.

Ron sat back in his chair and let out a sigh of relief. Now all he had to do was wait for Kim to get back from her call with Wade. Then he'd propose the toast again, get down on one knee, pull out the ring... His hand wandered instinctively down to his pocket—and his heart stopped. There was nothing there.

His eyes widened and he sat up again, staring around the table. There was only one person here with the skill to take that ring out of his pocket without him noticing...

"Hana..." he said slowly.

"Yes, Brother?" she asked, grinning up at him angelically.

"Where's the ring that was in my pocket?"

"Shhh," she said, putting one chubby finger up to her lips. "It's a secret."

_To be continued..._


	8. Up in the Air

_Wow. The last chapter not only put this story over 100 reviews (enjoy your Smarty Mart shopping spree TheRedKommie!), but it also gave me the most hits in a single day that I've ever had. I don't know how to really express how touched and honored I am by all the support this story is getting. So I'll just say this: You guys rock!_

_And now, to temper all that excitement, The Disclaimer: The characters in this story belong to Disney, not yours truly. No money is being made from their use._

_And once more, thanks to Slipgate for his tireless beta-reading services._

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Seven: Up in the Air<strong>

"Where's the box, Hana?" Ron asked again, trying his best to remain calm.

His sister giggled and held out one of her hands, opening it up to reveal the little black ring box. Ron let out a sigh of relief and snatched it from her. "Oh, thank—" He stopped short as he opened the box and found it empty. "Hana, what did you do with the ring?"

"Ring's a _secret_," she repeated slowly, clearly frustrated that her brother was having such trouble grasping what was for her an exciting new concept. "I wanted to help with the secret, so I hid it."

"Han-a!"

"We'll figure it out, Son," Gene said as reassuringly as he could.

It was at that moment that Kim walked back into the room. She looked around, surprised to find it so much quieter, and grinned as she noticed the battered remains of the Viking rocket lying on the floor.

"Sorry about that," she said as she slipped back into her chair. "Just getting an update from Wade."

"No problem, honey," Ann said. "It gave us time to update a few things here ourselves," she added, giving the twins a significant look.

Kim looked over at her brothers. They were sitting perfectly still with pleasant smiles on their faces, hands folded in their laps. Kim found it highly suspicious, and wondered just what they were planning next.

Then she turned to look at Ron and almost gasped. He looked as if he might be sick at any moment. "Ron, are you okay?" she asked, taking his hand.

"Huh?" he mumbled, looking at her as if he'd only just noticed that she was back. "Oh, uh, yeah. Fine, KP."

At the other end of the table, Gene coughed loudly. "I was just about to take Hana to the bathroom," he announced, standing up and pulling the little girl out of her seat. "Please excuse us."

"But I don't have to go potty!" Hana said loudly.

"Yes you do," Gene said firmly as they headed toward the downstairs bathroom.

As they disappeared from sight, Kim turned to Ron again, squeezing his hand. "Did you want to finish your toast?" she asked. "I could get you a new glass from the cupboard."

Ron looked up at her with barely concealed panic. "Um, yeah, but... but we should wait until my dad gets back!"

"Of course," Kim said, smiling at his odd behavior as she stood up and headed into the kitchen.

As soon as she was gone, Ron put his head in his hands and groaned. Everyone else around the table just stared at him worriedly.

Ron straightened up quickly and tried his best to smile when he heard Kim returning from the kitchen. She smiled back as she set a new glass in front of him. "There you go," she said, kissing his cheek.

As she took her seat again, Gene and Hana reappeared. Ron looked up at his father hopefully, but Gene gave him a small apologetic head shake. Ron's shoulders slumped once more as his father and sister sat down.

"Okay, Ron," Kim said encouragingly, "go ahead."

"What?" Ron squeaked, glancing nervously around the table. "Oh, um, I don't—"

"Go on," Kim said, placing her hand over his. "The Tweebs won't interrupt again—if they want to live," she growled, glaring at her brothers. They just smiled angelically back at her. She turned back to Ron. "You'll do great."

In spite of everything, when Kim smiled at him like that—like she believed he could do anything—Ron couldn't help but smile back. Before he really thought about what he was doing, he found himself standing up once again and lifting his glass into the air, staring into her eyes all the while.

It was when he looked up at the rest of the people around the table that his confidence faltered once more, and he remembered—he didn't have a ring to give her. He looked back down at Kim and gulped. "Um, I, uh—"

_Beep beep ba deep_

Kim cringed and muttered a hurried "Sorry" as she turned away—too soon to notice Ron's sigh of relief. _Saved by the Kimmunicator._

"Sorry to interrupt again so soon, Kim," Wade said as the Kimmunicator's screen blinked on.

"Got a clue already, Wade?"

"More than a clue," he said. "Another sighting of our dynamic duo. Remember what you just said about secret government labs being more their style?"

Kim stood up, snapping into full-on mission mode. "Where?"

"New Mexico," Wade replied.

"Any idea what they're after?" Kim asked.

Wade nodded. "This time it's easy."

"Ugh, not the PDVI again?"

"Nope, not this time. Try the SHiP."

"A ship?" Kim said, giving him a puzzled look. "In a lab in the middle of the desert?"

Wade grinned. "No, not _a_ ship. _The_ SHiP. Remember Drakken's Super High Pollinator mutagen?"

"Of course," Kim said. "Hard to forget something that helped save the world."

"Yeah, well, the fact that it helped save the world was enough to prove that it could be used to take it over, too. So when the government granted clemency to Drakken and Shego three years ago, they had to hand over all of the remaining SHiP formula as part of the deal."

Kim nodded. "And of course, rather than just destroy it—"

"They kept it to study for their own purposes," Wade confirmed. "And every last vial is currently stored—"

"At a secret government lab in New Mexico."

"Naturally."

"Got us a ride yet?"

"Of course," Wade said with a smug smile. "Meet them in your front yard in ten."

"Thanks, Wade. You rock double time."

Kim clicked the Kimmunicator off and looked up at the others still sitting around the table. "Sorry to eat and run, but we've got a hit on Drakken and Shego," she said, grabbing her boyfriend's arm and pulling him up from the table. "Come on, Ron, we've got less than ten minutes to get ready."

"But what about my, uh... my soufflé!" Ron cried as she started to drag him from the room.

Kim stared at him. "Ron, this is important!"

"So is my soufflé!" he countered desperately.

"Ron," Ann said, "why don't you stay here and tell me how to finish the soufflé while Kim runs upstairs to change?"

He nodded. "Good idea, Mrs. Dr. P."

"Fine," Kim said, letting go of his arm. "Just hurry up," she called over her shoulder as she jogged up the stairs.

Ron looked at his father. "Dad, you couldn't get Hana to tell you where she hid it?"

"Actually," Gene said, "she did tell me."

Ron brightened. "Great! So where is it?"

Hana answered before her father could. "With the other shiny things!" she proclaimed proudly. Everyone followed her gaze as she looked up at the chandelier hanging over the middle of the table.

Suddenly Ron understood why his father had not looked hopeful when he'd returned with Hana from the bathroom. Somewhere among the hundreds if not thousands of diamond-like bits of glass was just one real diamond. Hana had dropped a needle into a haystack.

Ron moaned. "What am I gonna do?"

"Ronnie," his mother said, standing up and putting a hand on his shoulder. "You just go on your mission and don't worry about it. We'll have found the ring by the time you get back."

"And then what?" Ron asked, shoulders slumped. "How am I going to propose now?"

The four parents exchanged worried glances, unsure of how to answer. Ann did the only thing she could think of; she walked around the table and gathered Ron into a hug. "You'll think of something," she said as she let him go. "Later. For now, your mother's right—don't worry about it. You need to have your head in the game when you go up against Drakken and Shego."

Ron nodded miserably. "I'd better go change," he said, "before Kim gets back down." He started to reach for Rufus, but seeing that the mole rat had fallen asleep there on the table, clutching his full belly, he decided to let him be. "You sit this one out, buddy," he whispered, then turned and marched out to the downstairs hallway closet. He pulled out a spare pair of cargo pants and a worn black turtleneck and went into the downstairs bathroom to change.

Kim came barreling back down the stairs just as Ron emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later. "Good, you're ready," she said, grabbing him by the arm again and dragging him out through the front door.

As they stood in the driveway, waiting for their ride to arrive, Kim couldn't help but notice the pall of disappointment hanging over her boyfriend. She reached over and threaded her fingers through his. "Sorry you didn't get to say your toast," she said quietly.

"Oh," Ron said, scuffing one foot across the pavement, "that's okay. No big, right?"

Kim bit her bottom lip. Something obviously _was_ "big," but she didn't know what it could be. "Sorry we didn't get to eat your soufflé, either."

"What souff—oh, yeah." Ron shrugged. "Oh well."

"Maybe there'll be leftovers when we get back," she offered hopefully.

"Yeah." Ron sighed. "Maybe."

Kim leaned over and bumped his shoulder lightly with her own. "Probably not, though, if it's as good as the rest of your dinner was."

Ron finally looked up at her then with a watery smile. "Thanks, KP."

Kim tilted her head and let her eyes drift shut as his lips moved toward hers. But before they could meet, a sudden strong wind and the sound of spinning rotor blades caused them to stumble apart to stare up at the helicopter now hovering overhead. A rope ladder dropped down in front of them. Kim gave Ron a shrug and an apologetic smile, then grabbed the ladder and began climbing. A few seconds later, she felt the ladder tauten below her as Ron began his own ascent.

Once they were both safely inside, Ron pulled up the ladder and yanked the door shut, and the pilot turned around to greet them. Kim couldn't quite place the man, though she assumed he was someone they had helped at some time or another. "Howdy, Team Possible," he said in a deep southern drawl. "Your pal Wade said you folks could use a ride to New Mexico."

"Yes, thanks for coming to pick us up so quickly," Kim said, still struggling to remember his name. "And for being willing to fly us so far."

"No problem," he said with a wave, as he turned back to the controls. "It's the least I could do after you saved my copter from that pack of flyin' gator critters."

Kim opened her mouth to offer her usual reply—but she stopped short. "Flying gator critters?" she echoed. She definitely didn't remember anything like that—and it didn't sound like the sort of thing that was easy to forget.

Ron apparently had no such problem. "It was no big, Mr. Schooley," he said. "Those owligators—or were they crocodowls...?"

"Ya got me, Son."

"Well, anyway, they were easy enough to distract with that bucket of extra super crispy from Pickin' Chicken."

"Well, I still say that was right quick thinkin' on your part, Son. And the beatin' you gave 'em once you'd lured 'em away was a sight to see!"

Ron laughed, his spirits lifted by the praise. It was then that he looked over at Kim and finally noticed her confusion. "One of DNAmy's experiments," he said. When her look of puzzlement remained, he added, "Uh, you know, it happened while you were in Norway."

"Oh," Kim said quietly.

Ron couldn't quite explain it, but he found his mood deflating once more. "Are you okay, KP?" he asked uneasily.

"Yeah," she answered quickly, staring out the window. "Sure. Just... thinking."

"Oh," Ron said. "Okay." He turned reluctantly to look out his own window.

After a while, Kim busied herself with checking over her equipment, making sure that she remembered where everything was and that it was all still in working order after sitting unused all summer. Nothing would go wrong this time.

On the seat next to her, Ron folded his legs up under himself, closed his eyes and breathed deeply. Until now, he'd been so preoccupied with getting his second proposal attempt right that he'd almost forgotten about the previous night's other failure. He wouldn't activate his powers fully here on the helicopter—he didn't want to alarm Mr. Schooley—but the familiar surge of energy telling him that he could have was a comfort. Nothing would go wrong this time.

* * *

><p>"We're coming in on the coordinates your friend gave me," Mr. Schooley announced as Kim and Ron felt the helicopter begin to descend. They looked out of their respective windows and saw the roof of a nondescript building rising up to greet them—nondescript, that is, except for the hovercraft sitting in one corner, where two people were hurriedly loading it with large vats of bright green liquid.<p>

Even as they watched, Drakken and Shego jumped into the hovercraft and floated up until they were level with the helicopter. Kim swung her door open and they were face to face.

"You're too late, Kim Possible!" Drakken shouted over the din of the helicopter's spinning blades. Shego just offered a little smirk and a wave before turning back to the hovercraft's controls and steering it off into the night.

"Think again, Drakken," Kim growled. She looked over her shoulder at Ron. "You've got your jetpack, right?"

He nodded.

"Good," Kim said. "You fly in from under and behind, try to get to the control panel. I'll get out in front and distract them."

"Okay," Ron shouted, though he wasn't sure if Kim heard him. She had already leaped from the helicopter. He watched her fall for a brief stomach-twisting moment before she pushed a button on her Kimmunicator that caused a rocket, wings and a helmet to spring out of her backpack, as the pack itself folded away out of sight. The rocket fired up and she blasted off after Drakken and Shego.

Ron took a deep breath, then plunged off the side of the helicopter after her, punching the button on his own wrist Kimmunicator to activate his jetpack as quickly as he could. As Kim had directed, he dove down low and then streaked off in the same direction she had gone.

—

It was only as she closed in on the hovercraft that Kim realized what she'd just said. "I'll get out in front and _distract_ them."

Distantly she remembered Ron whining once, "Aw, I'm always the distraction." That hadn't been true for some time now, though, had it? When had it become so natural to assign herself that role? And why should it bother her, she wondered, guilt mingling with annoyance.

Her growl this time was directed not at Drakken and Shego but at herself. "Head in the game, Possible!"

The hovercraft was right in front of her. She glanced back quickly to make sure that Ron was there below her. Then she shot upward, flying over Drakken and Shego's heads close enough that she could have reached down and touched them. But she wasn't there to fight, she reminded herself. She was there to be a distraction. So she was going to be the best darn distraction she could be.

By the time Drakken and Shego looked up, she had already whizzed over their heads, laughing loudly, and positioned herself in front of the hovercraft. Shego's eyes widened when she saw her nemesis there, and out of instinct, she scrambled to halt the craft before it could hit her. Kim grinned. "You were saying, Drakken?"

—

Ron was grinning himself as he watched from below. "That's my girl," he whispered as she brought the two villains to a standstill. _My turn now._

He angled himself upward, rising until he was just below the hovercraft. He hit a button on his Kimmunicator that magnetized it, allowing him to hang effortlessly from the smooth metal surface, and then cut his jetpack's engine. There was a large panel there in the center of the hovercraft's underside. If he could open it, he could pull a few wires and the hovercraft would fall out of the sky, Super High Pollinator formula and all. It was screwed firmly in place—but that should be no obstacle for someone with Mystical Monkey Power.

With a quick glance up at Kim to make sure she was still keeping Shego and Drakken occupied, he placed his free hand against the panel, took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and focused on calling up the mystical energy just as he had on the helicopter.

Nothing happened.

His eyes snapped open. He stared at his hands, desperately willing the familiar blue glow to appear. But they remained plain, ordinary hands.

He wanted to scream, "What is going on?" but he didn't dare. He would alert Drakken and Shego to his presence, and... Kim was still counting on him, powers or no powers.

He forced his mind to back away from the encroaching panic and to _think_. Whatever was going on with his monkey powers, he would have to deal with it later.

A few calming breaths was all it took to think of a solution to the immediate problem of the panel. Over the summer Wade had equipped him with several of the tools that Kim traditionally carried, albeit in somewhat more masculine incarnations. With a smile, he reached into his pocket for the laser lip balm that he knew was there, muttering to himself as he did so.

"Just have to do this the old-fashioned waaaaaaa—!" he screamed as something wrapped around his ankle and yanked him away from the panel.

A moment later, Ron found himself dangling upside down over the back of the hovercraft, staring into the face of a grinning Dr. Drakken.

Trying to get his bearings, Ron looked past the blue-skinned man. Shego was behind Drakken—or in front of him, rather, at the controls of the craft. But she hadn't resumed their flight yet. Instead, she was angrily flinging green balls of plasma at Kim, who was flying nimbly back and forth to avoid them. He caught Kim's eyes for only a moment, but it was enough to see the look of disappointment there as she saw that he'd been caught before he could complete his task.

But he didn't have time to feel sorry for himself right now. His eyes snapped back to Drakken. "So, we meet again, Buffoon."

"You'll never get away with it, Drakken!" he cried, hoping he sounded at least somewhat heroic.

Drakken didn't seem intimidated. "I'll never get away with _what_?"

"Uh... whatever it is you're, you know, planning to do." Ron's head was starting to feel heavy with all of the blood rushing down to it.

"Ah," Drakken said, still grinning. "Well, let's see. Right now, I'm planning to clip your 'wings.'" A second vine snaked out from his neck and wrapped itself around the jetpack still strapped to Ron's back. It tore the pack from him with frightening ease, and threw it over the side of the hovercraft.

"Oops," said Drakken. "Looks like I got away with it. Now what should I do next? Oh, right." The vine holding Ron by the ankle swung him back away from Drakken so that he was hanging not over the hovercraft, but over the dark nothingness and whatever landscape lay below. "Bye bye, Buffoon," he said, waving one black-gloved hand as the vine released Ron and sent him plummeting toward the ground.

"Ahhhhhhh!"

_To be continued..._


	9. Down on the Ground

_Sorry for the delay on getting this chapter up, guys. Thanks for your continued support. And thanks once again to Slipgate for the badical beta service._

_Disclaimer: Disney's. Not mine. 'Nough said._

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><p><strong>Chapter Eight: Down on the Ground<strong>

Kim was dodging Shego's plasma blasts from the front of the hovercraft when she saw Ron get yanked up from under the craft by Drakken. Her heart sank. She'd failed him even as a distraction. She tried to convey a silent apology when she met his gaze briefly across the craft, but another ball of green fire reminded her she didn't have time to feel sorry for herself. She focused her attention on Shego again, but as she continued to tumble back and forth through the sky, she kept track of Ron and Drakken out of the corner of her eye.

So when Drakken ripped off Ron's jetpack and then dropped him from the back of the hovercraft, Kim snapped into action almost before she had time to think. She pulled her grappling gun from its holster, aimed toward the sound of Ron's startled scream, and fired.

—

In the darkness of the desert night, Ron couldn't tell how far he had to fall before he would hit the ground. Instinct made him screw his eyes shut just the same. But they shot back open when he felt something snag the back waistband of his pants.

—

In her hurry to act, it didn't occur to Kim that the grappling hook might hurt Ron until she'd already fired it. But when she felt it catch and didn't hear a yelp of pain, she took it as a good sign.

Just before the line could snap taut, she pressed a button that doubled the power to her jetpack's engine, allowing her to stop Ron's fall without getting dragged down with him. Then she wrapped both hands tightly around the grappling gun and, with a grunt of exertion, swung it back as hard as she could.

—

Ron barely had time to register that his fall had been halted before he found himself swinging through the air toward the hovercraft—no, toward Kim, he realized. Of course she had been the one to save him. Wasn't she always? He smiled, not sure exactly where she was swinging him to, but trusting her judgment implicitly.

—

With the rocket on her back still blasting at full power to keep her balanced in the sky, Kim swung the grappler cord with Ron at its end in an arc, back and then up over her shoulder. _Duff would probably be appalled at my form_, she thought.

—

Ron's momentum at the end of Kim's pendulum carried him up and over her head, completing the arc as he landed on the front edge of the hovercraft, right in front of Shego.

The front of the hovercraft dipped suddenly under the unexpected weight, like one end of a seesaw. And at the other end, Drakken, completely unprepared, was catapulted off.

As the hovercraft righted itself once more, Ron watched the blue man fly off into the distance, screaming a scream not unlike his own from just a few minutes earlier. How quickly their fortunes had reversed!

But as he turned back around, his "Booyah!" was cut short by two things. First, Kim's grappling hook finally ripped itself free of his pants—which was promptly followed by said pants falling down around his ankles. Second, he found himself face to face with a very angry looking Shego.

Before he could say or do anything, the green woman gave a feral roar and shoved him as hard as she could. Ron flew back into Kim, causing both of them to tumble downward in a tangle of limbs for a few frightening seconds before she was able to right them both again.

They both looked up then, but they already knew what they would see. The hovercraft was gone. The moment they were out of the way, Shego had sped off to catch Drakken, and then continued their flight across the desert. There would be no catching up to them now.

Kim slowly lowered them to the ground and then placed a defeated call to Wade. A few minutes later, Mr. Schooley found them again.

The helicopter ride home was a quiet one.

* * *

><p>Kim slipped off her shoes and sank into bed without bothering to change into her pajamas, weighed down by a weariness that was only half physical. She couldn't seem to stop tormenting herself by drifting back to the pang of...what, jealousy?...that she'd felt toward Ron at the start of their mission. Whatever it was, she hated herself for it. It didn't matter that it had lasted for only a brief moment before she'd swept it aside. Her memory magnified it a hundredfold, and compounded it with the recollection of every time she'd held Ron's success against him. She was back in high school home ec all over again, watching him outshine her and resenting it.<p>

And what right did she have to feel that way? None—not back then, and not tonight. Her disappointment at finding herself in the role of distraction seemed all the more petty in light of the fact that she'd failed even at that. For all she knew, her grandstanding in front of the hovercraft had alerted Drakken to Ron's presence instead of distracting him from it. Ron probably would have been better off without her.

That last thought echoed painfully through her until her exhaustion finally won out.

* * *

><p>Down the street, Ron's quest for sleep was equally troubled.<p>

If he'd known of Kim's assumption that she hadn't bought him enough time to access his powers, he could have assured her that wasn't the case. He'd had plenty of time to monkey up. He just... couldn't.

He tossed and turned for about an hour before admitting to himself that his mind was racing with too many anxious questions to even think of rest. So he did the only thing he _could_ think of. He sat up, pulled his Kimmunicator from his nightstand, and called.

"Ron?" Wade appeared on the screen a minute later, rubbing bleary eyes. "Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"Sorry, Wade. I couldn't sleep."

"And misery loves company?"

"I said I was sorry." Ron rubbed the back of his neck. "But as long as you're up..."

Wade sighed. "Yeah, yeah, what is it?"

"Um, you remember that little argument we had about whether you could understand Mystical Monkey Power?"

Wade sat up a little straighter. "Yeah?"

"Well, I'm hoping I was wrong."

Now Wade was wide awake. "What's going on?"

Ron explained what had been happening over the last few days—how he could access his powers just fine in his backyard the other day, and again tonight on the helicopter ride, but once he was in the middle of a mission and actually needed them, they were mysteriously absent. Wade listened with interest, nodding occasionally but allowing his friend to speak uninterrupted.

"Any ideas?" Ron asked when he had finished.

"Well," Wade said, "your body goes through a number of neurological and physical changes when you're in battle—blood flow, heart rate, adrenaline... Theoretically, any one of those conditions could be affecting the manifestation of your powers, somehow, but..."

"But what?"

"But, if anything, in the past those conditions seemed to augment your ability to use your powers. If you're reacting differently to them now, there must be some other variable involved. Have you noticed any other physical changes lately?"

Ron wracked his brain, but he couldn't think of anything. He shook his head.

"Well, I'll go over the readings from the other day and compare them to past readings and see if anything stands out," Wade said. "For that matter, think I could get another scan now?"

Ron propped the Kimmunicator up at the foot of his bed and sat with his legs folded. Wade took a scan of him in his "normal" state and then asked him to monkey up. Ron took a deep breath and closed his eyes, nervous that it wouldn't work, but sure enough just a few seconds later he was surrounded by a glowing blue aura.

"Okay, got it," Wade said, and the unearthly blue light winked out as Ron released the breath he hadn't even realized he was holding.

"Now what?" Ron asked, picking the Kimmunicator back up.

"Now we sleep," Wade said. Ron's face fell. "Sorry, Ron, but this is probably going to take a while. The best thing both of us can do right now is get some rest."

Ron sighed, but he knew Wade was right. "Okay, thanks, Wade. And, uh, sorry again for waking you up."

Wade waved him off. "No problem. And try to not to worry, okay?"

The screen blinked off and Ron set the device back on his nightstand, next to a sleeping naked mole rat and an empty ring box. "Easier said than done," he muttered as he lay back down and closed his eyes.

* * *

><p><em>Brrrnng!<em>

Ron looked up blearily from the comfort of his blankets and reached out for the phone. He groaned as his clumsy fingers knocked it off of its cradle and onto the floor. If this was a sign of how his day was going to go, it wasn't looking much better than yesterday and the day before.

Rufus chirped and scampered down to the floor, lifting up the phone so that Ron could reach it more easily. "Thanks, buddy," he said, then put the receiver up to his ear and mumbled, "Hello?"

"Hey, Ron."

"Monique?" Ron asked, confused. "What do you want?"

"Well, good morning to you, too, Sunshine."

Ron shook his head. "Sorry, I was just surprised to get a call from you."

"Yeah, well, I wanted to find out how Round Two went, and after the way my call with Kim went yesterday morning, I thought it would be safer to try you first."

Ron sat up. "You called Kim yesterday morning?"

"Yes, but don't worry. We had a furiously weird conversation, but I'm pretty sure she never got a clue what I was going on about. But like I said, I thought it would be safer the second time around to call you before I try her, just in case."

Ron fell back onto his pillow with a weary sigh. "Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence."

"Well, you don't sound like a newly engaged man," she pointed out. "Or maybe you do."

"I don't," he grumbled grudgingly.

Monique groaned. "What happened this time?"

"Let's see, where do I start?" Ron said. "With the Viking rocket ship, the wild ring-stealing ninja child, or the mission call to a secret government lab in New Mexico."

"Well, it sounds exciting anyway," Monique offered.

"Oh yeah," he replied sarcastically. "It was great. Would have been every girl's dream proposal, I'm sure."

"You know, Ron, maybe you should stop worrying about giving her 'every girl's dream proposal,' and start focusing on just giving her Kim's dream proposal."

"And that would be...?" he asked, hoping that at some point Kim had told Monique exactly how she'd love to be proposed to.

"A proposal that comes from you," Monique said.

Ron sighed again. "Yeah, I've got that ingredient, thanks. Plenty of Ron here. Right now that's the only thing I _do_ have. And it keeps screwing everything up!"

"No need to get snippy," Monique shot back. "I'm just saying, you really shouldn't worry so much about how you ask the question. Just ask it already! I've got at least two dozen wedding dress designs sketched out and I'm ready for my BGF to call me all excited and in love so I can finally share them with her."

Ron actually chuckled at that. "Okay, Monique. Thanks. I'll figure it out soon—I promise," he said, before hanging up the phone. "Just as soon as I get the ring back, that is," he said to himself.

"Well, that shouldn't be a problem," his father said, pushing open the bedroom door.

"What?" Ron said, sitting up again. "You found it?"

"Actually," Gene replied, opening the door a little wider, "_they_ did." As he stepped back out into the hallway, Jim and Tim took his place.

Ron couldn't help but frown at the pair as he remembered the downward spiral their antics had started last night's dinner down. But they both looked genuinely contrite, and he found that he didn't really have the energy to stay angry. It helped that Tim was holding out a familiar diamond ring.

Ron took the ring from him and stared at it for a long moment, as if he feared it might disappear if he took his eyes off of it.

"We're really sorry about ruining your proposal, Ron," said Jim.

Ron sighed as he placed the ring carefully back on its cushion and snapped the box closed. "Don't worry about it. If you hadn't ruined it, I'm sure I probably would have—just like I keep screwing up our missions."

The twins exchanged a glance. Tim spoke this time. "Well, either way, we wanted to make it up to you."

"And maybe help you pull off a proposal, too," Jim added.

Ron looked back and forth between the two boys apprehensively. "Okay..." he said. "What did you have in mind?"

The twins grinned. "Behold," Jim said, pulling something from his back pocket. "Two tickets for this afternoon's Middleton Mud Hens game."

"Best seats in the stadium," Tim added.

"_We_ were supposed to go—"

"But as soon as we get home from giving your ring back—"

"We're officially grounded for the rest of the summer—"

"So we figured you might as well enjoy them."

"Okay, well thanks," Ron said, accepting the tickets. "But, uh, how is this supposed to help me propose?"

Their grins widened. "Remember Ron Reager?" Jim asked.

"Yeah..."

"He works at the stadium during the summer," Tim explained.

"Okay..."

"Controlling the electronic score board display," Jim added.

It took Ron a second to connect their dots. "You want me to propose to Kim on the Jumbotron—in front of everyone at the ball park?" he asked skeptically.

"Well, yeah, that was the idea," Tim said. "You see it on TV all the time, right? So girls must like it."

"It's just a suggestion, of course," Jim added quickly.

"Right," Tim said. "If you decide to use our idea, just let us know and we'll give Reager a call."

"And if you don't," Jim said, "you can still go enjoy the game with Kim anyway."

Ron stared down at the tickets. "Thanks, guys. I'll think about it and give you a call, okay?"

"Sure, no problem," Jim said. Both of them headed for the door, but Tim paused and turned back toward Ron.

"Hey, Ron," he said.

"Yeah?"

"You do know she's going to be thrilled no matter how you propose, right?"

Ron started to reply when Jim leaned back into the room. "Yeah, she's crazy about you, man."

"Don't ask us why," Tim said with a playful smirk.

"But even if you'd given a toast with a busted glass last night—"

"And a missing ring—"

"She still would have loved it."

Ron smiled back at them. "Thanks, guys. That actually... means a lot, coming from you two."

The twins both laughed at that. "Yeah, well, don't get used to it," Tim said.

"Yeah," Jim added. "Once you're officially our brother, it'll be our job to give you an even harder time than we already do."

* * *

><p>Ron sat at the kitchen table, munching absently on a bagel as he stared at the pair of Middleton Mud Hens tickets.<p>

What the Tweebs had said to him just before leaving kept running through his mind. They might have been right that their sister would appreciate even a terrible proposal... but she deserved so much better, and he wanted to give it to her. He'd let her down too many times in the past—all too recently when it came to their missions, in fact. He needed to prove—to himself as much as to her—that he truly deserved to marry Kim Possible.

"What do you think, Rufus?" he asked the naked mole rat, who was bolting down his own bagel on the other side of the table.

"Hmm?" Rufus murmured, licking a dollop of cream cheese from his nose as he looked up at his owner.

Ron waved the tickets at him. "Would Kim like this kind of thing—being proposed to at the ball park? I mean, the twins seem to think it's a good idea, and they _are_ geniuses, right?" He frowned. "On the other hand, she's never seemed that interested in baseball... and in front of all of those people...?"

Well, that part she might not mind so much, he thought. Kim was used to leading an often very public life, after all, and in some ways seemed to thrive on the attention of the world. It was more him that would have a problem. Proposing was... really big. Did he really want to make it bigger? He was nervous enough as it was _without_ an audience.

But maybe that was what made this sort of proposal special in the first place. "If proposing in front of our families was supposed to be romantic," he reasoned aloud, "then proposing in front of a hundred times more people should be a hundred times more romantic, right?"

Rufus looked up from his breakfast again. "Hrm." He shrugged. "Dunno."

Ron sighed and pulled his Kimmunicator out of his pocket. He needed a distraction, and right now there was only one other thing weighing on his mind enough to take his attention away from the proposal problem.

"Morning, Ron," Wade said as he appeared on the screen, sipping from a Fearless Ferret mug. Apparently he had been anticipating the call, because he immediately followed the greeting up with the words, "Nothing yet."

Ron's face fell. "_Nothing?_"

"I told you it might take a while," Wade said with a shrug.

"Yeah... 'a while' in Wade-speak usually means 10 seconds instead of five."

"Sorry, not this time."

Ron sighed.

"You know," Wade said, "you might consider talking to Dr. Possible about your problem, too."

"Which Dr. Possible?"

"The one who works with brains."

Ron's eyes widened. "You think there's something wrong with my brain?" he squeaked.

Wade help up his hands. "I didn't say that. I'm just saying, if there _is_ something neurological going on, Dr. Possible has access to better equipment than I do to analyze it."

Ron still looked perturbed.

"It was just a suggestion," Wade said.

"I know," Ron replied. "I won't rule it out, but... I guess I'd just rather keep this between you and me, for now."

"I understand. And I promise I'll update you as soon as I have anything. Just try not to worry about it, okay?"

"Sure, Wade. Thanks." Ron hung up and stuck the Kimmunicator back into his pocket.

Well, that settled it. If he couldn't do anything about one problem right now, he was going to focus his efforts on solving the other.

With a look of determination, he stood up from the table and walked over to the phone that hung on the kitchen wall, quickly dialing the familiar number. "Hi, KP? I was just wondering if you'd like to go to a baseball game this afternoon. Best seats in the stadium."

_To be continued..._


	10. Striking Out

_Disclaimer: Kim and Ron were created by Schooley, McCorkle and Disney. The Middleton Mud Hens were created by MrDrP in "Epic Sitch." The Lowerton Lawn Jockeys... well, I guess they're mine._

_Thanks once again to Slipgate, whose beta-ing continues to challenge me (in a good way, of course!)_

_And a belated thanks to aerolar1 for pointing out the incompetence of my umpire. Given the recent spate of major league players getting walked after three balls, I guess he isn't alone. Nevertheless, the mistake has been corrected.  
><em>

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><p><strong>Chapter Nine: Striking<strong> **Out**

"Yeah, go Mud Hens!" Kim shouted. "Send those Lawn Jockeys back to Lowerton crying!"

Ron grinned and wrapped his arm around her shoulders as she sat back down beside him. Except when she was cheerleading, Kim had never seemed that interested in sports before. But this game had turned out to be a particularly exciting one—the Middleton Mud Hens were facing off against their fiercest rivals, the Lowerton Lawn Jockeys—and it hadn't taken long for his naturally competitive girlfriend to start rooting with all of her heart for the home team. And he was loving every minute of it. He even found himself forgetting as they laughed and cheered and shared hot dogs and ice cream that he was supposed to be feeling nervous.

This, he thought, was why he loved Kim. She could make him feel like all was right with the world no matter what was going on around him, or what the future—including the very near future—held. It had been easy to feel anxious about this plan when Kim wasn't there, but when she was, his worries seemed to all just slide away. Suddenly it didn't matter that he'd be proposing in front of a huge crowd and probably tripping over his words all the way. Because Kim was right there beside him, because he was doing it for her, it would all be okay. She made him brave in ways he could never imagine when he was alone.

Kim leaned into Ron's embrace and smiled back at him. It had been clear to her from the moment he called her that morning that he wasn't holding last night's failure against her. And now it seemed somewhat silly that she'd imagined he might. It wasn't in Ron's nature to hold a grudge, even when he had every right to. She loved that about him—but she also felt guilty for sometimes taking advantage of it. So when he'd invited her to the baseball game, she'd accepted happily and resolved to enjoy herself, for his sake. And she was pleasantly surprised to find that, when she gave baseball a chance, she really did enjoy it.

Only one concern had made her hesitate about going to the game, but a call to Wade confirmed that there had been no new sightings yet of Drakken and Shego. He encouraged her to go have fun and promised that he would call her the second he had anything to report. So, just in case he did, she'd strapped on her wrist Kimmunicator as she ran out the door to pick up Ron.

What Kim didn't know—and hopefully wouldn't ever find out—was that the Tweebs had done Ron one more favor that morning. While Kim was in the shower, they had stolen the Kimmunicator, removed the battery, and handed it over to him. Ron felt guilty about it, of course, but he was desperate. He couldn't risk getting interrupted again.

"Thirsty, KP?" he asked, when he spotted a vendor walking down the stairs carrying a tray full of king-sized Slurpsters.

She nodded, and he waved the boy over. "One Slurpster and two straws, please," he said.

Kim looked at him, eyebrow raised.

"What?" he asked. "I'm not being cheap. It's romantic!"

Kim just snorted and shook her head. "Whatever you say, Ron." But the way she snuggled in deeper against his shoulder assured him that she did see the romance in it, even if it was his goofy, slightly off-kilter style of romance.

Ron handed the boy three dollars and accepted the oversized frosty beverage from him, setting it into the cup holder in the armrest between the two of them. The boy handed him two straws with a roll of his eyes, and Ron, blissfully ignoring him, unwrapped them both and stuck them into the lid of the drink, pointing one toward Kim and one toward himself. He leaned over to take a slurp from his straw, and grinned as Kim deliberately bent over to take a sip from her own at the same time, rubbing her nose against his. _Yeah_, he thought, _this is going to be perfect._

Around the top of the fifth inning, Ron's nerves finally started to creep back in. He hardly realized it at first, until Kim reached over and put a hand on his knee to still its bouncing. "It's okay," she said, smiling at him. "They're only behind by one, and there are still four whole innings to go."

It actually took Ron a second to figure out that she was talking about the game. He smiled tightly and nodded, hoping his anxiety wasn't as apparent to her as it suddenly was to him. The Mud Hens might have had four whole innings to go still—but he only had one. He'd asked Reager to put up his message in the middle of the sixth. His concentration became so taken up with keeping his hyperactive knee still and not drumming his fingers on the armrest that he almost couldn't pay any more attention to the game at all.

But he was conscious enough to take notice when the sixth inning started, with the Mud Hens still down by one and up to bat. The first two batters struck out right away; the Lawn Jockeys' pitcher was good. Ron couldn't seem to stop himself from fidgeting.

But the next up to bat was "Swingin'" Steve Swenlin, Middleton's star hitter. If anyone could get a hit in against this pitcher, it would be him.

The first pitch whizzed by, and he didn't even swing. "Strike One!" the umpire called out. Swenlin didn't look worried.

The next pitch was a wild looking curve, and Swenlin stepped back, shaking his head at it, and leaving the fans behind him to groan as it flew over the plate just perfectly. As they all already knew he would, the umpire shouted, "Strike Two!"

The tension of the crowd around Ron seemed to echo and feed into his own. "Come on!" fans cried out all around him. "You can do it!" "Show 'em what for!" "Don't let us down!" "Hit it out of the park!"

"Yeah!" Kim joined in with her own spirited shout. "This is your last chance! Don't screw it up!"

Ron didn't know quite why, but suddenly he cared very much about whether Swingin' Swenlin hit the next ball or not. "Come on," he whispered, clenching his hands. "You can do it."

Kim reached over and took his hand, unrolling his anxious fist and squeezing his fingers excitedly as Swenlin stepped up to the plate for the fourth and final time. Whatever happened now, that was it.

Swenlin nodded toward the pitcher with a confident smile. You could just about hear him whisper, "Bring."

The pitcher wound up his arm, reared back, and threw himself forward, letting the ball fly from his hand at the last possible second like a stone loosed from a catapult. Everyone in the stadium seemed to be holding their breath as that little white and red-stitched missile flew straight across the plate, and then—_crack_! Bat met ball, and the ball never stood a chance. It went soaring over the pitcher, over the outfielders with their gloves stretched hopelessly above their heads, and finally, over the fence and into the waiting hands of an excited little boy on the other side of the stadium.

There was just a second of awestruck silence, and then the crowd erupted into riotous cheering. What a hit! It was perfect—absolutely perfect! One for the books! The type of home run you would tell your children and your grandchildren about someday!

Kim and Ron, like everyone else around them, leapt to their feet, and Kim wrapped her arms tightly around his middle. "He did it!"

"Yeah," Ron murmured, softly hugging her back. "He really did." He gazed down at the field, where Swingin' Swenlin was jogging triumphantly around the bases while waving to the exultant fans. Ron found himself watching the man with an odd mixture of solidarity and envy. He made it look so easy.

Swenlin finished his victory lap, the fans found their seats again, and the stadium grew relatively quiet once more, except for the usual cries of "Peanuts, get your peanuts here!" and the sound of the announcer introducing the next man up to bat.

The next Mud Hen struck out quickly, one, two, three, but it didn't matter. The game was tied again, and nothing could kill the good mood now flowing through the stadium—and radiating from Kim. Ron couldn't have asked for a better precursor to his moment than that.

Staring up at the scoreboard expectantly, he plunged his hand down into his pocket, wrapped it around the ring box, and yanked it back out—knocking over the still mostly full king-sized Slurpster with his elbow as he did so.

"Ack!" Kim cried, jumping to her feet as the lid burst off of the cup and cold syrupy liquid spilled all over her lap. "Ron!"

"Oh no, KP, I'm sorry," he stammered.

"It's okay," she grumbled. "Just... could you try to find me some napkins or something to clean this up?"

"Right, napkins," Ron said, eyes darting around. But as he searched for someone nearby who might be willing to share some napkins with him, he noticed something odd. Everyone seated around them—and in fact, everyone in the entire stadium—had fallen deathly silent. With a growing sense of dread, Ron turned slowly to stare up at the scoreboard. Sure enough, there in big, bright letters were the words:

KIMBERLY ANN POSSIBLE, WILL YOU MARRY ME?

Ron gulped, looking around at all of the people who were now staring at him and Kim with the same breathless expectation they'd directed at Swingin' Swenlin just a few minutes earlier. Then he looked over at Kim and saw that she was still staring down at the large embarrassing stain on the front of her pants and brushing at it ineffectually with her hands.

"Uh, hey, Kim?" Ron said.

"Napkins, Ron," she demanded without looking up. "Focus."

"Yeah, but Kim, you should really look at the scoreboard."

"What?" she asked. "Ron, I know what the score is. Now my pants are soaking, so would you please—"

"But KP, if you could just for a second—"

He stopped short as her head finally snapped up and she stared at him, green eyes flashing. "Ron, what could possibly be so... important...?" Her voice trailed off as, looking past him, she finally noticed that everyone around them was watching her. But still she did not look up at the scoreboard. "What is everybody staring at?" she growled. "Geez, you'd think they'd never seen someone spill something on themselves before. It's no big."

"Kim," Ron said, pointing urgently toward the scoreboard.

She sighed and threw up her Slurpster-stained hands. "Fine, Ron, I'm looking at the scoreboard. Happy? What is so important?" she asked, whipping her head around to finally face the video screen—just in time to see Wade's face pop up on it, like the world's largest Kimmunicator.

"Kim," the tech genius said, his voice booming out through the stadium speakers, "if you're there, something's wrong with your Kimmunicator. I've been trying to get through to you for half an hour and I can't seem to get a signal, so I finally had to hack into the Mud Hens' audio/video system."

Somehow that seemed to be what it took to finally break the crowd out of its silence. All around the stadium, people began to boo loudly at the boy on the screen. Ron wondered if it was for interrupting his proposal or for interrupting the game. Maybe both.

"Try to get the Kimmunicator fixed," Wade continued, oblivious to the ire that was being directed at him. "The only thing I can think of is the battery might be loose—and then call me back as soon as you can, okay?"

With that he disappeared from the screen, replaced once more by the usual scoreboard and advertisements.

"All right, folks," the announcer said cautiously, as if he was just waiting for the next interruption to pop up. When it didn't, he continued more confidently. "Let's get this game back in swing!" Slowly, the Mud Hens made their way out onto the field, the Lowerton Lawn Jockeys began to warm up on deck, and the fans settled back into their seats.

Kim slipped the Kimmunicator off of her wrist and turned it over. She was surprised to find that the battery wasn't just loose—it was missing entirely. Slumping down in his seat, Ron covered his eyes with one hand, and with the other, he slipped the ring back into his pocket and pulled out the other item that had been resting there since the Tweebs had handed it off to him. He held his hand out toward Kim palm up, with the little blue battery sitting in the middle of it.

"Ron!" she cried, grabbing it from him. "What are you doing with this?"

Ron risked a quick glance over at her and cringed at the stern questioning gaze that greeted him. He just couldn't lie. He'd done enough of that over the last few days, even if it was for a good reason. "I took it," he confessed. "Well, technically, your brothers took it, and they gave it to me. But it's not their fault," he added quickly. "I asked them to."

Kim glared at him as if she couldn't believe what he'd just said. Ron braced himself, waiting for her to explode. But she didn't. She didn't say anything at all. She just stood up quietly and made her way down the aisle, jamming the little battery back into the Kimmunicator as she went. When she reached the stairs, she turned back and looked at Ron, who was still sitting in his seat, staring after her. "Well," she said sharply, "are you coming?"

"Oh," Ron said, and immediately he scrambled to his feet and stumbled after her.

Once she was certain he was following, Kim turned away again and headed up the stairs toward the exit, putting the Kimmunicator back on her wrist and flicking it on as she went. "What's the sitch, Wade?" she asked.

"Oh, hey, Kim! So you did get my message," the boy answered. "Good. What was wrong with the Kimmunicator?"

Ron thought he heard her growl as she cast a quick glance over her shoulder at him before answering tersely, "Don't ask."

"Uh... okay. Well, I've been doing a scan of newscasts around all of Drakken and Shego's old haunts, and I think I got something. There was a flurry of UFO sightings reported by local fishermen in the Caribbean around dawn today."

"Which is about the time Drakken and Shego's hovercraft would have gotten there if they traveled straight from New Mexico after hitting that lab," Kim said.

"Exactly," Wade said. "So it looks like the old island lair is the place to go."

"Nice work, Wade," Kim said, as she and Ron emerged from the stadium and walked out into the parking lot. "Got a ride lined up already?"

Wade nodded. "That half hour of radio silence gave me plenty of time for that," he said, but his smile fell when he saw Kim grimace. He pushed on. "Bernice is waiting for you at the airport—cargo plane."

"At least it's someone I know this time," Kim muttered.

"What was that, Kim?" Wade asked.

"Nothing, Wade. Thanks," Kim said, clicking off the connection with a half-hearted "you rock" as she climbed into the Sloth.

Ron slid into the passenger seat. Kim still said nothing, and still refused to look over at him. And he noticed that she seemed to lean as far away from him as she could as she steered the car toward the airport.

"Should we pick up Rufus?" he asked.

Kim still didn't look at him, but she pursed her lips in thought before shaking her head. "No, we've wasted too much time already."

Ron sighed and held out his hands pleadingly toward her. "Kim, I can explain."

"Fine then, Ron—explain," she said, finally meeting his eyes—and looking suddenly just as hurt as she had been angry a few minutes earlier. "How could you do that behind my back?"

"Kim, it's not like that. I just—" He sighed in frustration. This would be so much easier if he could just tell her the truth—the whole truth—instead of trying to pick out the pieces of the truth that were safe to let her in on. "I just wanted us to be able to spend some time together and relax for a little while. To not have to worry about the missions for just a few hours, you know?"

"Ron, I can't believe you," Kim said, anger flaring again. "The missions are important."

Ron's own temper rose a little at that. "Well, did it ever occur to you that there might be more important things than missions, Kim?"

"Like a stupid baseball game, Ron?" she asked disbelievingly.

"Hey, baseball's not stupid!" he shot back. "You were having fun, too. But that's not what I was talking about."

Kim looked at him doubtfully. "What _were_ you talking about, then?"

Ron opened his mouth to respond, but of course realized that he couldn't. "Nothing," he muttered after a minute, gritting his teeth as Kim nodded smugly. "I'm just saying, other people could handle Drakken and Shego."

"I know that, Ron!" Kim snapped with a fire that caught him off guard. "Don't you think I know that? But I've let them get away twice now. They're my responsibility."

Ron's brow furrowed. "Don't you mean _we've_ let them get away and they're _our_ responsibility?"

Kim looked at him a little guiltily, but didn't answer. And just like that, the argument ended. They sat in silence until the Kimmunicator's ring came crashing through the tension just as they were pulling up to the plane.

"What now, Wade?" Kim snapped.

"Woah, uh, sorry, Kim," Wade sputtered. "Am I interrupting something?"

Kim sighed, her shoulders slumping. "Sorry, Wade. I'm just a little... tense. I shouldn't have taken it out on you. What's the sitch?" She did her best to smile at him.

"Um, actually, it's just... could I talk to Ron? Privately?"

Kim's forced smile quickly dropped. "Why do you want to talk to Ron?"

Wade rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh, you know, uh... guy stuff?"

Kim sighed again and rolled her eyes. "Fine." She slipped the Kimmunicator off and held it out toward Ron. "Here. It's for you."

Ron gingerly took the device from her hand, and, with a nervous little cough, opened his door and stepped outside. Kim exited the car as well and went to pull their mission gear from the trunk. She cast a doubtful glance at Ron before heading toward the plane without him. "Don't take too long," she said. "I'm sure we've already kept Bernice waiting."

Ron sighed miserably and turned to the Kimmunicator once she was safely out of earshot. "What's up, Wade?"

"Ron, I am so sorry!" Wade whispered. "I didn't know you were in the middle of proposing when I called earlier!"

Ron sighed again. He _had_ been angry at Wade earlier for interrupting, but that anger had quickly dissipated, and besides, he wasn't in the mood to pick any more fights; he'd already messed things up enough with Kim just now. "That's okay, Wade. It was probably for the best. The whole thing was already a huge disaster before you even popped up."

"Well, I still feel bad," Wade said. "Why didn't you tell me you were proposing?"

"Nothing personal, buddy," Ron replied. "I just felt like the fewer people who knew, the better, you know? Not that that philosophy has worked out very well for me so far..."

"I guess I can understand that," Wade said. "But it didn't occur to you to mention it when I asked you last night if anything had changed recently?"

Ron blinked as the realization of what Wade was suggesting dawned on him. "You think maybe my trying to propose has something to do with my MMP not working?"

"It's definitely a possibility. The stress—"

"Wait, I thought you said stress helped my powers."

"A certain type of stress," Wade countered. "But maybe not _every_ type of stress."

Ron considered that. "But I was under 'proposal stress' on the helicopter last night, and when you took that reading."

"True, but you were _only_ under 'proposal stress' at those times. It's possible that it's only when you add 'combat stress' onto 'proposal stress' that it's enough to inhibit your abilities."

"I guess that makes sense," Ron said, scratching his head.

"It's just a theory, of course," Wade replied. "I'll keep looking into other explanations, but if this one is right, you should be fine once the extra stressor is out of the way."

Ron groaned. "You make it sound so easy."

"I'm _really_ sorry for ruining things—"

"You didn't ruin anything," Ron insisted.

"Ron!" Kim called out. "Come on!"

"I'd better go," Ron told Wade, jogging toward the plane.

It wasn't until he'd already severed the connection that it occurred to him to wonder how Wade had found out about him proposing. But he shrugged the question off quickly. Wade was a super-genius, one who frequently had access to more information than most people would suspect even existed. When he thought about it, he was actually somewhat surprised it had taken his friend this long to figure out his plans.

The large cargo plane wasn't designed for passengers, but when Ron climbed inside, he found that Bernice had tried to at least provide a place for them to sit. One row of crates had been set up perpendicular to the door, with a second row, two crates high, stacked behind it.

Kim was sitting on the far left side of this improvised bench, already dressed in her mission wear. Ron walked over and silently handed her the Kimmunicator, then picked up his backpack from the floor and went to the back of the plane to change.

He suited up quickly and was in the process of folding up the pants he'd worn to the game when something fell from their pocket to the floor. He grabbed up the little black box as quickly as he could, glancing furtively over his shoulder to make sure Kim hadn't seen it. She was facing resolutely forward. He allowed himself a little sigh of relief as he absently stuffed the ring into the pocket of his gray mission cargos.

Kim finally turned her head to look at him as he sat down at the opposite end of the makeshift bench. "What was that all about?" she asked.

"What?" he squeaked, suddenly worried that she _had_ seen the ring.

Kim raised an eyebrow. "The call—with Wade?"

"Oh, that! Uh, you know..." Ron fumbled for words before recalling the excuse that Wade had given earlier. "Guy stuff."

She stared at him skeptically. "You're not trying to help him get together with Monique again, are you?"

"N-no!"

"Good," she said, nodding. "Because I think they would make a cute couple, too, but they need to figure it out for themselves."

"Agreed."

"Good."

"Great."

They fell back into silence, and both looked away. But the tension that had hung over them earlier had largely evaporated. And after a few minutes more they both turned back toward each other and blurted out at the same time, "I'm sorry."

They both smiled a little at their synchronicity. There was no need to say anything more.

Kim slid across the seat and leaned against his side. "I'm just frustrated, Ron." She sighed. "It feels like nothing's gone right lately, you know?"

Ron wrapped his arm around her. "KP, you have no idea."

_To be continued..._


	11. Storm Clouds

_Question: What's little and blue and can cause a whole lot of trouble?_

_A) Drakken after being hit with a shrink ray_

_B) Rufus in the Arctic_

_C) The human gallbladder_

_If you answered C, you'd be right (though I will also accept "D) All of the above"). Early in August, I took a trip to the emergency room courtesy of my gallbladder. Looking back, I think this problem had been affecting me for some time before it came to a head. In any case, a couple weeks in the hospital, one less gallbladder, and a couple weeks of recovery later, I am feeling much better. _

_Thanks to everyone who expressed concern, wished me well, or just waited patiently while I got back on my feet. I knew I was really starting to feel like myself again when I was able to write again, and I hope you'll enjoy the results. _

_And thanks once again to Slipgate, not only for his always helpful beta services, but also for helping to lift my spirits during my hospital stay._

__Disclaimer: I lay no claim to Kim Possible or any related characters. They're all Disney's.__

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter<strong>** Ten: Storm Clouds**

Ron climbed up the treehouse ladder, unable to stop the smile that was spreading across his face with each step. Things were finally going right. He had finally gotten over whatever block was inhibiting his Mystical Monkey Power, and he and Kim had managed to take down Drakken and Shego in record time. With that out of the way, he was finally able to focus fully on the proposal problem, and he had come up with the perfect idea. And this time, with the benefit of having Wade in the know, he was confident there would be no interruptions.

His head poked up through the hole in the floor of the treehouse, and his smile widened. Kim was sitting there on the couch, waiting for him just as he'd asked. "Hey, beautiful."

"Hey yourself," she answered, grinning back as she stood and helped pull him the rest of the way into the treehouse. "So what's up, Ron? Why did you want me to meet you up here?"

"Just feeling nostalgic, I guess," he said. He led her back over to the couch and they sat down together, cuddling close. "Remember when my dad built this treehouse for us?" he asked.

"Yeah," Kim said, nuzzling his cheek. "We were, what—seven?"

"You were seven," Ron said. "I was still six. It was one month, one week and three days before my birthday."

Kim pulled back and stared at him in amusement. "You remember that exactly."

"Of course, KP. It was a special day for us." He took a deep breath, hoping his voice wasn't shaking as much as he felt like it was. "And I'm hoping today will be a special day for us, too. One that we'll both remember for the rest of our lives."

As he spoke, he slowly slid off the couch and knelt down in front of her, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the ring box that he'd been trying to give her all week long. "Kimberly Ann Possible, I love you more than anything, so I want to ask you something very important: Will you give me the great honor of being my wife?"

He flicked the little black box open with trembling hands. Kim gasped, her hands coming up to cover her mouth. "Oh Ron," she breathed. "It's beautiful."

She took the box from his hands and slid the ring onto her finger, staring at it as if it was the most beautiful thing in the world. Ron, for his part, knew that it wasn't—since he was staring at the person who was. "I take it that's a 'yes,'" he said with a little chuckle.

But when Kim's gaze lifted from the ring, her expression shifted in a way that made a knot suddenly rise in the pit of his stomach.

"What?" she asked. "Oh, you're serious!"

Ron's eyes widened. "Of course I'm serious, KP! I want to marry you. Don't you want to marry me?"

Kim actually laughed at that. Not the warm, trickling laugh that he loved so much, but a cold, pitying one. "Oh, Ron, this is very sweet, but come on! You don't really think I would marry you, do you?"

"I—I just thought that you..." He paused, frowning. "Yes! I love you, Kim. And I sure thought you loved me, too, so... if this is supposed to be some sort of joke, just cut it out, because it's not funny!"

Her expression darkened. "The only joke here, _Ronald_, is you. And the fact that you think I would actually marry a total loser."

"KP!"

"Think about it, Ron. The only reason I've stayed with you this long is because you finally stepped up and made yourself useful with your MMP—and then you went and lost it! Why would I want to stay with, let alone marry, someone who can't even take down Drakken and Shego?"

"What are you talking about?" Ron cried. "I got my monkey powers back. We beat Drakken and Shego!"

"Did we, Ron?" Kim challenged. "Think back. Did we really?"

Ron opened his mouth to answer, but he stopped short. Now that he thought about it, really stopped and thought about it... he _couldn't_ remember any details about how they had taken Drakken and Shego out. He had only the vague sense that it had happened. And under Kim's questioning stare, he found that sense evaporating like so much early morning mist.

In fact, now that he really stopped and thought about it, he couldn't remember much of anything before he'd started climbing the ladder up to the treehouse—not how he'd gotten there, or how he'd come up with the idea to propose to Kim there, or even when or how he'd asked her to join him...

He looked back at Kim. "I, uh... I don't know... What's...?"

"Let me help you out, Ron," Kim said, without a hint of kindness in her voice. "Here's what you need to know: you're a total loser who almost made something of himself for a few years." As she spoke, she leaned closer and closer to him, and Ron found himself leaning back, away from the cutting cruelty in her voice and gaze. "But now you're back to being your true self, and you actually expect me to marry you? You are dreaming. Wake up!"

Ron finally leaned back so far that he lost his balance and landed on his back on the hard wooden floor. Kim was still sneering down at him, and he screwed his eyes shut. "Wake up!" she said again.

"No!" he cried, still refusing to look at her.

"Ron, wake up!"

He felt her shake his shoulder, and he batted her away miserably. "Stop it, Kim. Leave me alone!"

"Ron, come on!" She shook his shoulder again, harder this time, and finally he was forced to open his eyes... only to find that he wasn't in the treehouse, but in the back of Bernice's cargo plane. And Kim was there beside him, staring at him not with contempt but with concern.

"Kim?" he asked, blinking at her as he slowly regained his sense of what was real and what was not. It didn't take long to deduce that everything he'd just experienced fell into the "not real" category... but somehow that knowledge didn't seem sufficient to convince his heartbeat to slow or his memory to stop replaying the dream-Kim's hateful words. He shook his head, then noticed that Kim was still watching him worriedly. "Uh... sorry, KP. Guess I was having a dream, huh?"

"It sounded more like a nightmare," she said, reaching down to squeeze his hand. "Wanna talk about it?"

"No," he said, a little too hurriedly. Kim's expression shifted from worry to hurt at the quick rejection. He felt guilty, but...what could he say? _I was proposing to you—which by the way, I've been trying to do all week—and you shot me down?_

Instead, he just squeezed her hand back and put on the best smile he could manage. "It was just silly stuff, KP—you know. I don't even remember half of it."

Kim pulled away from him a little, glancing at him doubtfully. But neither of them wanted to start another fight, so they simply lapsed into an uncomfortable silence—until Kim remembered why she had woken Ron up in the first place.

She stood up and tossed him his parachute, then began strapping hers on. "Bernice says we're almost there. Jumping in a few minutes."

* * *

><p>With nothing to do but fall and think, Ron inevitably let his mind drift back to his dream. He'd been anxious all week, but that was over wanting to give Kim the perfect proposal. He hadn't even thought to worry about the possibility of her saying "No." Or at least, he hadn't done so consciously. But now that his subconscious had gone and dug the issue up, he couldn't seem to bury it again.<p>

Kim had always been dedicated to the mission work, of course, but lately she seemed particularly preoccupied with it. He hated the thought as soon as it crossed his mind, but... it almost seemed like she'd missed the missions more than she'd missed him. And he'd been screwing them up all week thanks to his nerves, or whatever it was that was blocking his monkey powers.

And what if Wade's theory was wrong—what if this problem was permanent? If he was no longer able to be of any help to Kim, would she choose the missions over him? Maybe she'd be better off without him—in missions and in marriage.

He sighed and slapped himself as he pulled his chute and floated down toward the familiar site of Drakken's Caribbean lair. _Head in the game, Stoppable,_ he told himself. Whether Kim wanted to marry him someday or not, she was counting on him now. He patted the familiar little lump in his right pocket one more time, then braced himself for the landing on the beach. _At least I didn't lose the ring this time,_ he thought.

* * *

><p>With nothing to do but fall and think, Kim inevitably let her mind drift back to what she'd heard Ron mutter in his sleep. At first it had been the usual incomprehensible nonsense, and she'd listened with amusement to see if she could catch anything intelligible. But then he'd gotten more and more restless—and his words had become all too clear. "No." "Stop it, Kim." "Leave me alone!" She knew she shouldn't take it personally. It was just a dream. A nightmare. Ron had had nightmares before about her turning out to be a synthodrone, right? That was probably it.<p>

But... he'd always told her about those nightmares, (even when she would rather he didn't). And for some reason he had refused to say anything at all about this one. Why would Ron, who was always so open about everything, want to keep the contents of a supposedly harmless nightmare from her—unless there was at least a grain of truth somewhere in it. Maybe her fears had been right and he didn't need her—didn't even want her—any more. Maybe his conscious mind was trying to deny the truth, but his subconscious was pushing the matter to the forefront. Why not? She'd screwed up two missions now that should have been a walk in the park, and she'd been in a foul mood for much of the week because of it, which couldn't have done much to make him happy to have her back. So maybe he would be better off if she did just leave him alone, like he'd pleaded in his sleep.

She shook herself out of her pity party as she opened her chute and floated down toward Drakken's old island lair, with its beach still littered with "Warning: Haunted!" and "Keep out!" signs. _Head in the game, Possible_, she told herself. Whatever the future might hold, she had to be in the here and now. This might be her last chance to stop Drakken and Shego from pulling off whatever take-over-the-word-scheme they had up their sleeves, and this time she wouldn't screw it up. She couldn't—for more reasons than one.

* * *

><p>Shego wandered down the passageways of the old island lair, wondering how a place she'd once spent so much time in could feel so strange to her now. She reached Drakken's lab and peered around the corner. He'd been working away furiously on whatever machine it was he'd decided to build this time, so she'd been left largely to her own devices all day. She'd done all the things she used to do—filed her nails, read the latest Villainess magazine, poked around in the kitchen. But she'd done all that and now she was bored, so he had better be ready for her. He was standing back looking at the machine instead of tinkering with it, so hopefully that was a good sign.<p>

"So..." she said as she sauntered into the room, "what is this hunk of junk anyway?" To Shego, the towering piece of equipment looked like any number of Drakken's other miscellaneous doomsday devices—taller than it was wide, reaching nearly to the lab's already high ceiling, a mass of metal, wires, gears and buttons that meant nothing to her. She kicked at the base of it lightly.

"Shego!" Drakken cried, placing himself protectively between her and the machine. "This is a delicate piece of equipment. You can't just go kicking it around."

Shego rolled her eyes. "Okay, whatever, sorry," she grumbled. "Now are you gonna tell me what it is, or not?"

Drakken straightened up, puffing his chest out proudly and spreading his arms wide. "Behold! The Ultra Weather Generator!"

"The Ultra Weather Generator. Huh. So we're doing weather... again?" Shego asked.

"What do you mean 'again?'" Drakken demanded.

"I mean we already did weather, what was it—three times before?"

"Nnnggh..." Drakken growled, then muttered, "Two."

"Really? I could have sworn it was three. Are you sure—?"

"Yes, I'm sure," Drakken snapped. He crossed his arms and sulked. "The third time you're thinking of was the buffoon's plot when he stole my evil, remember?"

"Oh yeah, that's right. Now that you mention it... didn't he call his the Mega Weather Generator?" she asked, staring at him skeptically. "You couldn't even come up with an original name?"

"I did so!" Drakken tried to shout, but it came out sounding more like a whine. "He doesn't have a trademark on the words 'Weather Generator.' And mine is _Ultra_, not Mega."

"Uh huh. And the difference is...?"

"Ultra is better than Mega, of course!"

"Riiiight," Shego said. "You know, his weather thingy was _really_ good."

"Hey, my inventions are good, too!" His voice trailed off and he looked at her plaintively, tapping his fingers together. "...Right?"

Shego cocked an eyebrow at him, torn between her old instinct toward sarcasm and a desire to placate him that the old Shego would never have entertained, let alone acted on. Well, it was the old Shego he wanted now, right? "Riiight... that's why we're currently ruling the world—oh, wait. We're not."

Drakken glared back at her. "A plan doesn't have to succeed to be good, you know!"

Shego blinked at him. "I... don't even know how to respond to that. Did you hear that on some afterschool special for young aspiring villains or something?"

"Shego, your words hurt." He spun away from her, arms crossed—but not quickly enough for her to miss the slight tremble of his bottom lip.

Shego sighed. "Look, I'm s—" She swallowed back the apology. If they were going to do this, she couldn't be soft. And she had enjoyed this way of life once... hadn't she? "I'm _sure_ it'll work this time. Third time's the charm, right?"

Drakken looked over his shoulder warily, as if he was uncertain whether she was teasing him or not. But at her light smile of encouragement, he grinned back and turned around to face her again.

"That's right, Shego!" he said, taking her hand. "This time I—" He paused and squeezed her hand. "This time _we_ are really going to do it. What we've always dreamed of—taking over the world!"

"Right," Shego said, smiling uncertainly. "So... other than being Ultra—which is _way_ better than Mega—what does this thing do, exactly?"

Drakken grinned now, rubbing his hands together. "Instead of telling you, Shego, allow me to show you," he said.

He walked over to the front of the large piece of equipment and pulled an oversized lever, then stood back a few feet, pulling her with him, and together they watched as gears turned and pumps chugged up and down for a few minutes until, finally, a small gray cloud began to form from the small opening at the top of the machine. Drakken ran over and hit a button and the cloud detached from the top of the machine with a wet little plop, then went floating aimlessly off across the ceiling of the lair.

"Ha ha!" Drakken cried, pointing triumphantly at the sad little cloud.

Shego stared up at it, wondering just what she was supposed to be seeing. "It's a cloud," she finally stated flatly.

Drakken's enthusiasm was not dampened by her lack of the same. "Yes!" he said.

"And... how exactly are we supposed to take over the world with a cloud?" she asked irritably. "What, are we going to steal the world's supply of umbrellas and then demand they hand over control of all the world's governments before we'll give them back?"

"Very funny, Shego, but no," Drakken said, still smiling smugly. "You see, this is no ordinary rain cloud—because the rain it produces will be no ordinary rain."

He took her hand again and led her around to the back of the contraption, where a large tank hung. And inside the tank sloshed an all too familiar bright green liquid. Shego raised one sculpted eyebrow.

When they'd gone to steal the Super High Pollinator, she hadn't guessed that it had anything to do with his actual take-over-the-world plan. After all, the stuff had been used to _save_ the world. She'd just figured it had been a matter of pride—that he wanted back what was his. But obviously she'd been mistaken.

Drakken grinned at the dawning comprehension on her face. "That's right, Shego. It's my Super High Pollinator mutagenic formula. And once these clouds spread out and rain it down onto every piece of land on earth, my plants will spring up all across the world—and be ready to do my every bidding!"

"That—" Shego paused, trying to find the hole in his plan, but... she couldn't think of anything. This plan wasn't like so many of his others—too complicated or farfetched, too many moving parts or "what ifs" to ever have any real chance of succeeding. It was simple, efficient, and based on experience. If Drakken could help stop an alien invasion that had brought the rest of the world to its knees with his plant powers, then it stood to reason that those same powers could bring the world to its knees in turn.

She took a deep breath. "That just might work."

Drakken couldn't have looked any more pleased.

Until the little gray rain cloud now hovering over his head spilled all of its viscous green contents onto him in the space of two seconds. Now dripping with the goo, Drakken stood there blinking—until giant yellow petals popped out suddenly around his neck. "Nnggh!" he growled, ripping them out frantically.

Shego struggled to stifle her laughter. That hadn't happened in at least a year! Drakken glared at her as he plucked the last petal from his neck and threw it down into the puddle of green liquid at his feet. "There are still a few little bugs to work out," he said through gritted teeth. "So if you'll excuse me, Shego," he added as he shooed her back out of the lab, "I have important work to do here." As soon as she was out of the room, he slammed the door shut behind her.

Shego stood there and glared at the closed door for a minute, thinking she could blast the thing to bits with one good plasma burst if she wanted to. Then she'd give him a piece of her mind. But as she heard him start banging away at that confounded hunk of metal and wires again, she turned on her heel instead and stomped off down the hall to find her nail file. "Fine," she muttered under her breath. "You have fun."

* * *

><p>Neither Shego nor Drakken realized that their conversation had not been private. At the other end of the lab was another door that stood slightly ajar, and through this door a pair of green eyes was currently peering.<p>

"Did you get all that, Ron?" Kim asked.

There was no answer.

"Ron?" Kim looked over her shoulder to find that she was alone. She cast her gaze frantically down the hall, then released a sigh when she spotted her boyfriend several yards away, staring into another room—just a storage closet if she recalled the lair specs that Wade had called up correctly. "Ron," she whispered, "what are you doing?"

Ron didn't turn to look at her, but continued to stare straight ahead. "Kim... I think you'd better come take a look at this."

"What?" she asked, tiptoeing over to his side.

Ron pointed, and she followed the line of his finger with her gaze. As she'd thought, the room he was staring into was just a storage closet, its walls lined with shelves that held a myriad of miscellaneous items—cleaning supplies, light bulbs, various gears and gadgets and failed contraptions waiting to be harvested for parts.

But one item, sitting on the middle shelf on the back wall, stood out somehow from the rest, in spite of its dark shade. It was a monkey, ornately carved from a cylindrical piece of black, shining stone. It glinted under the light of the dirty bulb that hung from the closet's ceiling, and Kim felt Ron shudder beside her. She turned to look at him. "How did you—?"

"I kind of... felt it," Ron said, shivering again as he continued to stare at the object, "just when I walked past this door. I had to open it."

Kim wrapped her hand instinctively around his arm even as they both stepped into the closet by unspoken agreement. Her next instinct was to hit an oft-used button on her Kimmunicator.

"What's up, Kim?" Wade asked as his face popped up on the little screen.

"Wade, I think we've found what Drakken and Shego stole from the museum the other night."

"That's great!"

"Yeah," she said, sounding less certain. "Now we just need to know what it is and why they wanted it." She held the Kimmunicator up to the stone monkey, allowing him to capture the image.

"Okay, checking against the museum's database," Wade said, as his fingers flew across the keyboard. "Bingo. You're right, this is from the museum."

"What is it?" Ron asked over Kim's shoulder.

"According to this, it's called the Jade Monkey..."

Ron laughed nervously and shook his head. "Uh, Wade, the Jade Monkeys are green—and in pieces. Remember?"

"I remember, but... hang on a sec," Wade said, typing furiously. "Okay, this is the _Black_ Jade Monkey, and... oh."

"Oh?" Ron asked, his voice cracking. "What 'oh,' Wade?"

"Um, well, I think my earlier theory about why your MMP wasn't working may have been wrong..."

Kim looked curiously between Ron and her Kimmunicator screen at that, but decided now was not the time to ask. "What's the sitch, Wade?"

"Well, according to this, the Black Jade Monkey was created by the same Tai Shing Pek War followers who created the other four statues, but with the opposite purpose. They made it in case the other four should ever fall into the wrong hands."

"It blocks Mystical Monkey Power," Ron filled in.

Wade nodded. "Within a limited radius, but yes."

Kim and Ron exchanged a look as this piece of information fell into place in the puzzle that had been the past few days. "Thanks, Wade," Kim said. "We'll keep you posted." She clicked the Kimmunicator off and then turned to look at Ron again, only to find him standing with his eyes closed, brow creased in obvious concentration. She let him be, and a few seconds later he opened his eyes again with a frustrated sigh. "Wade's right, isn't he?"

Ron stared back at her miserably and nodded. Then his gaze hardened and he turned to face the statue again. "So all we have to do is destroy it," he said, reaching out.

"Ron, no!" Kim's hand shot out to restrain him. "We can't. We have to return it to the museum."

"But—oof!" Whatever argument Ron might have made was interrupted as they both felt a swift tug at their shoulders. Before either of them could even think to react, their backpacks were torn from them. They spun around to see Drakken standing just outside the room, Shego at his shoulder and their packs held aloft by his vine. The leafy appendage dropped the bags into Shego's waiting arms and then shot out again, whipping the Kimmunicator off of Kim's wrist.

"Drakken!" Finally pulled out of her shock, Kim charged at him, only to have the door slammed in her face. Drakken cackled at her angry visage through the little window set into the door—a door that, she cursed herself for not noticing earlier, was made of solid steel.

"I thought you might find this room interesting," Drakken said, "which is why I installed a silent alarm to let me know when you'd found your way into it. Oh, and one other little surprise." He lifted up his hand and Kim saw that he held a small controller. He pressed a red button, and the hiss of gas being released sounded over their heads. "Just a little something extra I picked up while we were visiting that secret government lab—a new knockout gas they've been working on. Enjoy!"

"Storage closets," she heard Ron mutter behind her. "Right up there with grottos."

She looked back at him briefly, then backed up as much as the tiny space would allow and launched a flying kick at the door. As she'd already known it would, the door did not budge. But still she stepped back and prepared to go again.

"Kim, stop," Ron cried, stepping in front of her and grasping her shoulders. "You'll hurt yourself."

"We have to do _something_, Ron." She struggled against his grasp, but even as she said the words, she began to swoon. Ron's hands quickly shifted from over her shoulders to under them, and Kim slumped against him gratefully, giving in against her will to the effects of the gas.

Ron was not affected as strongly or as quickly thanks to his larger build, but he could feel his knees going weak nonetheless. Fearing he might drop Kim at any moment, he lowered them both carefully to the floor. Slumped unceremoniously against the wall, with Kim sprawled in his lap, he struggled to lift his head high enough to gaze at the Black Jade Monkey still sitting on the shelf above.

"Are you sure I can't smash it?" he murmured, knowing his leaden limbs couldn't carry out the task now even if he'd wanted them to.

Kim's only answer was a weak chuckle, barely a breath.

As both of them gave in to the siren call of unconsciousness, neither heard the other whisper, "I'm sorry."

* * *

><p>When they awoke, their heads were pounding and their arms were aching. The latter because they were hanging from two pairs of shackles bolted into a wall, with their feet dangling a few inches above the ground. The dungeon that they found themselves in was dank and dark, but it wasn't hard to see the two figures standing at the other end of the room, thanks to the green glow emanating from Shego's hands.<p>

"Well, Kim Possible," Drakken said, stepping forward with a grin, "I see you're finally awake. As you can see, we have you well restrained—and this time there will be no annoying pink weasel things with laser lipsticks to free you," he added, holding up their backpacks. "We'll be taking these with us just to make sure."

"This time I win, Kim Possible," he continued, stepping closer to point one gloved finger mockingly at her. "It's Dr. Drakken's turn now. And that means you lose—you _and_ your Buffoon."

"Hey," Ron cried, "I know you know my name. Now you're just being rude!"

"And what are you going to do about it?" Drakken taunted, sounding more like a schoolyard bully than a man about to take over the world. And yet... he _was_ going to take over the world, Kim and Ron both thought. He was right—there was nothing they could do.

Shego came up next to him, grinning as well. "Hey, Dr. D," she said, leaning over and whispering something in his ear.

"Ooh." He chuckled. "Good idea, Shego." Then he turned back to Ron again. "We'll be taking one more souvenir to commemorate our glorious victory," he announced. The vine shot out from his neck and latched onto the leg of Ron's cargo pants, then whipped them off with one quick flick, leaving Ron hanging there in just his boxer shorts.

"Oh, come on!" Ron shouted as Drakken and Shego fell against each other, giggling like children. "Don't you think this is getting a little old?"

"Sorry, Buffoon," Shego said, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye as she leaned on the still giggling Drakken with the other arm. "But the classics never get old. And_ that_ is a classic."

"Well," Drakken said finally, straightening back up and clearing his throat, obviously trying to look serious, but only succeeding in looking giddy. "We had best be going now. Lots to do still. Be good little prisoners and maybe we'll bring you down a radio later so that you can enjoy the weather report."

He and Shego broke into laughter again as they marched out of the room, carrying the two backpacks, and Ron's pants, with them. The door slammed shut behind them with a sickening clang.

_To be continued__..._


	12. In Here

_Disclaimer: Kim Possible and company belong to Disney. Their use in this story is for entertainment purposes only._

_Muchas gracias once again to mi amigo Slipgate, the fastest beta in the west. In an earlier chapter, I advised you to read his story "Losses." Now be sure to check out the continuation, "Finding a Life Unknown." You won't regret it!_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Eleven: In Here<strong>

Shego let out a frustrated sigh as she dropped onto the bed. Seeing Princess and Monkey Boy hanging there helpless _had_ been fun, no doubt about that. But as soon as they'd left the dungeon, Drakken had dropped the stolen backpacks and pair of pants into her arms and headed back to his lab without her. Bored and annoyed—with him or with herself, she wasn't really sure at this point—she'd headed back to the bedroom.

She turned her head to the left to look at the nail file sitting on the nightstand, but immediately dismissed that idea. Any more filing and she wouldn't have any nails left. Turning her head the other way, she saw the backpacks where she'd dropped them on the bed next to her, with the buffoon's cargo pants draped over them. She sat up with a shrug, deciding that rummaging through Possible's and Stoppable's things was as much entertainment as she was likely to get at the moment.

But as she picked up the pants to toss them out of the way, something fell from one of the pockets and tumbled to the floor. Curious, Shego bent over and picked up the small dark object. Her eyes narrowed when she saw that it was a jewelry box—then widened when she flicked it open and saw what was inside.

* * *

><p>Ron hung his head and shut his eyes tight, wishing this was another nightmare that he would wake up from any minute now. When he opened his eyes again and the dark gray dungeon floor was still all that he saw, he sighed.<p>

"KP, I—I'm sorry. I let you down. Without my monkey powers, I guess I'm just... useless to you." He paused, then added more quietly, "Just like I was afraid."

Part of him expected Kim to agree with him, to say that she had placed too much faith in him, and that this was all his fault. Part of him hoped she would say that of course that wasn't true, that she loved him no matter what, and that he wasn't useless. There was no part of him that was prepared for what he actually heard, but looking up at her confirmed it.

Kim Possible was laughing.

Ron stared at her in disbelief. He'd just bared his heart, left it out for her to rip to shreds or shelter lovingly. He could have taken it if she'd berated him; that was what he expected, what he deserved. But to laugh at him...? Many people had laughed at Ron Stoppable over the years, but Kim never had. Until now.

"I didn't think you'd find that so funny," he said, hanging his head again.

"What?" Kim asked, looking up at him. "Oh, no, Ron, I wasn't laughing at you."

"Yeah, sure, Kim," he grumbled. "Whatever."

Kim frowned. "Really, Ron, I wasn't."

"There's no one else here to laugh at, KP," he pointed out pragmatically.

"There's me," she answered just as plainly.

Ron met her gaze then. "Huh?"

"I was laughing at myself, Ron. Because... well, I was just thinking—be careful what you wish for."

Ron looked around at their dank accommodations. "Okay..." he said, "and what part of this did you wish for exactly?"

Kim stared back at him, her expression turning serious. "The part where you didn't have your monkey powers," she confessed quietly.

Ron's eyes widened. "What? Is that why you wouldn't let me smash that stupid statue?"

"No, Ron, I wouldn't let you smash the statue because I think we've destroyed enough museum property for one week."

"Okay, good point," Ron said. "But Kim, I still don't understand. Why would you want me to lose my powers?"

Kim's eyes dropped to the ground. "That's kind of funny, too," she said, though her laughter did not return. Hesitantly, she looked back up at him. "Ron... you're worried you let me down?" He nodded, and she shook her head with a wry smile. "All week I've been worried that _I_ was letting _you_ down."

Ron's eyes widened again. "That is kind of funny," he said, but he didn't laugh either. "Kim, how could you ever let me down? You're... you're you."

Kim sighed. "That's sweet of you to say, Ron, but... being out of the loop this summer made me realize... now that you have your MMP, you don't really need me. And my efforts to prove otherwise haven't turned out so well," she said, looking ruefully at their chained hands.

Ron shook his head. "KP, I could never not need you—let me finish," he said as he saw her start to object. "I don't care about the MMP. I mean, I do—I care about helping people. I care about helping _you_, about having your back." He took a shaky breath. "Kim, I love you. That's the biggest kind of need I know. And if I never got my powers back—or heck, even if I do—I'd be happy just being your goofy sidekick for the rest of my life... but I'd rather be your goofy husband."

Kim's head snapped up. "Ron, did you just... was that...?"

Ron's eyes went wide for the third time as his own words caught up with him. He hadn't planned to say that, but now that he had, he couldn't stop there. "KP, I..." He dropped his gaze to the ground, took a deep breath, and plunged forward. "I want to fall asleep with you in my arms and wake up next to you every day just like on Mount Middleton the other night. I want to take you out on fancy dates and feel like the luckiest guy in the room because I'm with you. I want to have crazy dinners with both of our families there, and I want to embarrass you in front of large crowds of people like I probably would have if you'd looked up at that scoreboard half a second earlier. I—"

He stopped when he heard Kim sniff. He looked up at her and gasped at the sight of tears streaming down her face. "Oh no, Kim. I'm sorry, please don't cry, I'm so sorry. I wanted to give you the perfect romantic proposal—I've been trying all week—and instead I went and ruined everything—"

"Yes," she said.

His eyes snapped up to meet hers. "Yes, I... ruined everything?"

Kim sniffled again, but smiled. "No, you big goof. Yes, I'll marry you."

"Oh. Wow..." He blinked. "Um, did I even actually get around to asking?"

Kim thought for a moment, then laughed, even as tears continued to course down her cheeks. "No, I guess technically you didn't."

"Oh."

"Well...?"

"Huh? Oh, right." He stared into her eyes; they were glistening with tears, but she was smiling, and he found himself grinning back. "Kimberly Ann Possible..." He stopped—no, that wasn't right. "_KP_... will you marry me?"

Kim nodded, beaming. "Absolutely."

They hung there just smiling at each other for a few minutes before either of them felt the need to speak again.

"Ron?"

"Yeah?"

"You've really been trying to propose all week?"

"Uh huh."

"So... dinner at Chez Couteaux...?"

"Yep."

"And then with our families...?"

"Uh huh."

"And... the baseball game—when you were trying to get me to look up at the scoreboard...?"

"Yeah, that too."

Kim cringed a little. "No offense—I still would have said yes—but... I'm kinda glad that one didn't work out."

"Heh heh, yeah..." If Ron's hands hadn't been in shackles, he would have been rubbing the back of his neck. "Me too. It wasn't my best idea, but I was getting kind of desperate. All my planning seemed to be for nothing."

"How long _have_ you been planning this?"

Ron stared back at her thoughtfully for a moment. "Well, I've thought about marrying you for a long time now, KP. I mean, I can't imagine a future without you in it, you know? I haven't been able to for a long time." She nodded, tears glistening in her eyes again. "But I guess if you're asking when I started really thinking about it seriously... probably around the time you got on that plane to go to Norway and I went back home to Middleton without you." He blushed a little. "I hadn't really thought out how I was going to propose at that point, but I did go out and starting looking for rings pretty soon after that. I guess I figured I ought to have that part taken care of before I even thought about the best way to give it to you."

Kim's shimmering eyes widened. "There's a ring?"

"Of course there's a ring," Ron said. "I told you I wanted to do this right. I—" He stopped in mid-sentence, the color draining from his face. "Oh no..."

Kim looked at him worriedly. "Ron...?"

He closed his eyes and groaned. "Oh no... the ring."

"What about the ring, Ron?"

"I had it with me," he said simply, eyes still screwed shut, avoiding her questioning gaze.

"_Had_?" Kim asked. "Oh no, Ron... You didn't... It wasn't...?"

He nodded slowly as if the movement pained him. "In my—"

"Pants?" a third voice interrupted.

Kim and Ron both looked toward the dungeon's doorway in surprise. There stood Shego, holding up Ron's pants in one hand—and a small black jewelry box in the other.

"Shego!" Ron cried. "Give me back that ring!" He paused for a moment, then decided to add, "And my pants, too!"

Both women stared at him.

"What?" he asked defensively. "This dungeon is really drafty!"

Shego rolled her eyes, tossed the ring box to the hand that was holding the pants and lit up her now free hand.

"Ahhh!" Ron screamed. "Okay, okay, you can keep the pants if you like them that much!"

Ignoring him, Shego reared back and flung a ball of plasma straight toward him. Ron shut his eyes, waiting for the inevitable pain of the plasma hitting him. Instead, it hit exactly what Shego had been aiming for: the shackles around his wrists. Ron fell to the stone floor with a thud. "Ow!"

Still ignoring him, Shego launched another ball of green flame in Kim's direction. Having had the benefit of watching Ron's fall, Kim was able keep her feet under her for a much more graceful landing.

Ron started to pull himself to his feet. "Okay, Shego, what's your—oof!" He was cut off in mid-question by Kim knocking him back down to the floor and kissing him in a way that swiftly made him forget that Shego was even in the room, let alone what he was going to ask her.

The green woman apparently didn't care for being ignored, though. "All right, already!" she shouted at the pair. "Enough with the kissy face. Don't make me regret setting you free."

Kim relinquished his lips and sat up, and Ron was finally able to breathe again—though he found himself thinking that breathing was really quite overrated. Kim smiled down at his goofy grin with a pleasantly dazed look in her own eyes for just a moment before he saw her snap back into "mission mode." But, he noted happily, this time she actually looked as regretful about it as he felt.

As she stood, pulling Ron up with her, Kim asked, "Why _did_ you set us free, Shego? What's the sitch?"

"So you can stop Dr. D," the other woman answered plainly.

Kim and Ron exchanged a look of confusion. It was Ron who spoke up first. "Um, did you get hit with one of those Reverse Polarizer thingies again?"

"No, you idiot," Shego growled, firing up her free hand again.

Ron took a step back and held up his hands. "Okay, I believe you!" He looked at Kim. "Definitely not Miss Go."

Kim smiled back at him, eyebrow arched. "Ya think?"

"Well then what's going on?" he asked. "Because this doesn't make any sense!"

Kim looked back to Shego. "I've got to agree with him there. Care to explain?"

Shego's eyes narrowed, but she sighed. "Look, the whole reason Dr. D got us back into this whole take-over-the-world thing is because he thought it was what _I_ wanted. And for a while I thought he might be right..."

"But...?" Kim prodded.

Shego's gaze dropped to the little velvet box in her hand for just a split second before snapping back up. "But I realized that it's not what I want," she stated quietly, her eyes daring the other woman to pry further.

But Kim just nodded slowly, her eyes locked with Shego's. "So what do you want us to do?" she asked.

Ron stepped forward again. "Yeah, wh—wait, what?" He looked at Kim. "What just happened?"

Kim just shook her head at him, smiling fondly. "I'll explain it to you later."

"But—"

"Ron," she said, taking his hand, "just trust me."

His worried gaze settled instantly into a relaxed smile. "Always, KP," he said, squeezing her hand back.

Then both turned back to Shego. "Well?" Kim asked.

"Just... do what you do. You know." She waved her hand in the air. "The hero thing. Take out the machine, destroy the lair, make some snarky comments. I would have thought you had the formula down by now."

Ron scratched his head. There was something being left out here. "What will _you_ be doing?"

"Fighting you," she answered matter-of-factly. "Or, more likely, Kimmie."

Ron glared at her. "So you're on our side—but you're not?"

She glared right back. "Drew... Dr. D can't know that I'm the one who freed you and told you to stop him. That means I've got to play my usual part." She turned to Kim with a grin. "And that means you'd better be ready for me, Princess. Don't expect me to hold back just because you're helping me out. I've got to make this look believable, and besides, if this is the last time I ever get to kick your butt, I want it to be good."

She looked at Ron again. "It also means the statue's still in play. I can't destroy it to help you out. That would make Dr. D too suspicious. And besides, I'm sure you Pixie Scouts probably want to be able to return it to the museum in one piece."

"And us mysteriously getting free _won't_ raise Drakken's suspicions?" Kim asked.

Shego stared at her, eyebrow raised. "How many times have you two escaped from one of Drakken's traps or prisons now?"

"Umm..."

"Exactly—too many to count. Yet another 'impossible' escape won't faze him at all. I mean, yeah, he'll do the whole 'Kim Possible!' thing like always, but that's just his schtick. He won't really be surprised—at least not enough to ask 'how.'" She stopped and looked back and forth between them. "Any more questions from the Hero Squad?"

Kim started to shake her head, but Ron's hand shot up into the air.

Shego sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "What?"

Ron's hand fell back down to his side. "Um, well... why don't you just tell _Drew_ that you don't want to take over the world?"

Shego stared at him as if he'd just asked the stupidest question she'd ever heard, but when he made no sign of taking it back, she barked, "We have communication problems, okay? You want us to go to couples therapy?"

Ron stroked his chin thoughtfully. "That might not be a bad idea."

Shego growled, firing up her fist again. But instead of throwing a ball of plasma at him, she pulled back her other hand and threw his pants instead. Naturally, they landed over his head. "I'll look into it," he heard her say as she swept out of the room. "After you two convince Drakken that he's not cut out for world domination. Your bags are in the bedroom—I won't be."

Ron extracted his head from his pants and looked over to see that they weren't the only thing Shego had tossed over before walking out. Kim was holding the little black velvet box. After a quick glance at him, she flipped it open to see the ring inside.

Ron gulped. "Um, do you... like it, KP?"

"Oh, Ron." She threw her arms around his neck. "It's beautiful. Thank you."

"Y-you're welcome, KP," he said, hugging her back. "Uhhh..."

Kim leaned back a little to look into his eyes. "What?"

"I should probably put my pants on," he said, sheepishly, "you know, if we're gonna go bust some bad guys."

Kim blushed a little. "Oh, right. Good idea." She let him go and turned away while he got dressed.

When Ron had finished, he looked to Kim. She was staring down at the open ring box. "Ready, KP," he said.

Kim turned, snapped the box shut, and held it out to him. "Hold onto this for me?"

Seeing the hurt that flashed across his face, she spoke again quickly. "I just don't want it to get lost or damaged while I'm fighting Shego."

"Oh," Ron said, reluctantly allowing her to press the little box into his hands. "But Kim, I... I already lost it once."

Kim just closed his fingers securely around the box. "I trust you."

Ron smiled softly back at her and nodded, tucking the ring carefully into his pocket.

"Okay," Kim said, her features hardening. "Ready to take down Drakken?"

Ron grinned back at her with the same determination and nodded. "Old school style!" He started toward the door, but stopped when he felt Kim's hand land on his shoulder.

"Oh, and Ron?"

"Huh?" As he spun around to face her again, she grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him to her.

The kiss was quick but earnest. As their lips parted, Kim smiled at him, running her fingers along his cheek. "I love you, too."

_To be continued..._

* * *

><p><em>Author's Note: Well, it finally happened! What did you think? Was Ron's proposal romantic... or at least Ron-mantic?<br>_

_The story's not quite over yet, but thanks to work being very busy right now, there may be a bit of a wait for the next chapter (though probably not near as long as the gap between chapters nine and ten).  
><em>


	13. Out There

_Disclaimer: They still belong to Disney; I'm still not making any money off of them. 'Nough said?_

_Thanks once again to Slipgate for his awesome beta reading. And thanks to everyone who's been following this story for the last several months. Our journey's almost over..._

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Twelve: Out There<strong>

Drakken was just putting the finishing touches on his Ultra Weather Generator when he was interrupted by a persistent _ding, ding, ding_.

He straightened up, glaring at the pulsating alarm beacon mounted on the wall with a mixture of annoyance and confusion. "What now? Shego!" he shouted.

"Yeah?" a bored voice spoke from right over his shoulder, and Drakken jumped in surprise. He spun around, swallowing back the impulse to yell at her for startling him.

"Come with me," he said instead, pointing at the alarm beacon. "Somebody's in the storage closet again. Maybe they brought that pink weasel thing with them after all."

Out in the hallway, the two villains crept over to the half-open closet door as quietly as they could and peered inside to see...

"Ron Stoppable!"

At Drakken's exclamation, Ron spun around, the Jade Monkey cradled in his hands. "Hey," he said, grinning as if he was greeting an old friend, "I knew you knew my name!"

Before Ron could take another step, Drakken's vine shot out and wrapped itself tightly around him and the statue both, lifting them up into the air. Drawing Ron's face close, Drakken ground out, "I don't know how you escaped from the dungeon, Buffoon, but if I have to hold onto you myself, you won't escape again."

"Okay," Ron said, shrugging.

Drakken blinked at him. That wasn't the response he had been expecting at all. "What?" he asked, shaking Ron a little. "What do you mean 'okay?'"

"I mean _okay_," Ron answered. "All right, fine, no problemo...?"

Drakken shook him again. "Ngh! I know what 'okay' means! What I want to know is _why_ you are 'okay.'"

"Ooohhh," Ron said. "Why didn't you say so?" He paused, enjoying the purplish tinge that Drakken's face was beginning to take on. "That's easy. I'm okay with you holding onto me because I'm just the distraction."

Drakken blinked again. "Just the... Shego!" he yelled.

"On it," she said, and because Drakken's attention was still focused on Ron, he missed the quick look she gave the blond boy before she ran back toward the lab.

Drakken spun around and ran after her, carrying Ron and the statue with him. "Ow!" Ron cried as he was pulled roughly through the doorway.

Sure enough, as they rounded the corner into Drakken's lab, there was Kim, staring at the control panel of the Ultra Weather Generator. Shego immediately lobbed a ball of plasma at her. Kim dodged the blast easily, and it hit the side of the machine instead, leaving a nasty-looking scorch mark.

"Shego!" Drakken cried. "Be careful! Don't damage my machine!"

Shego glared at him over her shoulder. "You want me to get Kimmie, or you want me to protect your machine?"

"Both!" he barked. "Multitask!"

Shego sighed. "Fine," she said, running toward Kim and driving her back from the machine with a flurry of plasma-fueled punches.

"Go Kim!" Ron shouted as the redhead countered with a sweep of her leg that almost sent Shego sprawling.

Drakken glared at him. Then the glare slowly transformed into a shark-like grin. "Remember when I threw you into those shelves in the museum?" he asked. "That was fun."

"Heh heh, yeah, fun..." Ron answered, suddenly nervous. "Too bad there aren't any shelves around here, huh?"

Drakken shrugged. "Oh, that's _okay_," he said. "I'm sure throwing you at the wall will be just as fun."

Before Ron even had time to process that statement, he found himself free from Drakken's vine—and flying at far too high a speed toward one of the lab's stone walls. All he could do was cling to the Jade Monkey and scream.

—

At the sound of Ron's scream, Kim's right hand instinctively grabbed for her hairdryer grappler even as the left blocked another blow from Shego. She aimed at one of the high windows in the wall opposite her and fired. The moment the hook took hold, she hit the recoil button and went flying over Shego's head.

Her path intersected with Ron's just feet from the wall he was hurtling toward. She wrapped her free arm around his waist and carried him with her as she continued her upward flight.

It took Ron a moment to realize he was out of danger and to catch his breath. Then he looked gratefully at his fiancé. "Thanks for the catch."

Kim grinned back. "Any time." But her smile disappeared and her eyes went wide when she heard and felt the snap of the wire that was carrying them. Before she even had time to gasp, they had crashed to the floor below.

Once she recovered from her surprise, Kim untangled herself from Ron and drew the frayed and smoking end of the wire to her. There was only thing that could have caused that. Ron had obviously drawn the same conclusion, as he lifted his head from the ground to glare across the room at Shego. "She wasn't kidding about not going easy on us, was she?" he groaned.

"Guess not," Kim said, pulling him to his feet. "Are you okay?"

"I think so," Ron said, patting himself down—with special attention paid to the little lump in his right pocket. "You okay?"

"Yeah."

"Well, you won't be for long!" Drakken shouted. They both looked over to where he and Shego now stood, in front of the Ultra Weather Generator's control panel. Seeing that he had their attention, Drakken pulled a lever with a grin, and the machine whirred to life. "Looks like the weather's about to change!"

Kim narrowed her eyes. "We need to stop this thing," she said. "But they're not going to let us get anywhere near that control panel."

Ron tapped his chin as his gaze drifted upward. "You know," he said, "this thing is just about the same height as a pyramid of cheerleaders..." He bent down, lacing his hands together and holding them near the floor with palms facing up.

Catching onto his idea immediately, Kim smiled and took a few steps backward. "Thanks for the boost," she said.

Ron grinned. "Any time. Ready? One..."

"Two..."

"Three!" they shouted together, as Kim ran forward. As she reached him, her right foot landed neatly on the platform Ron's hands had created. Ron hefted upward and Kim jumped off in the same fluid motion. Kim flew up toward the ceiling, performing one quick flip before landing perfectly on top of the machine.

"Showoff," Ron called out appreciatively.

Kim grinned down at him, then disappeared from his view. She reappeared a minute later. "Ron, I need something to plug this spout, fast. The opening's about this big," she said, drawing a circle in the air about the size of her head.

"I've got just the thing," Ron said. He picked up the Jade Monkey from where it had fallen when Shego cut the grappling line, and tossed it up to her.

"Ron," Kim chided as she caught the heavy object. "We talked about this..."

"It's the only thing that'll fit!" he insisted.

Kim sighed and shook her head, staring at the statue in her hands. He was right, it was almost perfect, but...

Her internal debate was interrupted by the same wet _plop_ she'd heard earlier when Drakken was first demonstrating the machine to Shego—only this time much closer. She spun around and fell onto her back as she saw the dark cloud now looming over her, threatening to release its noxious contents at any second.

Thinking fast, she drew her hairdryer grappler again, saying a quick thanks to Wade that he had never disabled the device's original function. She flicked the switch from "grappler" to "dryer," aimed at the cloud and fired. A gust of hot air erupted from the gadget, blowing the cloud away from her and off over the edge of the machine.

—

Back on the ground, Drakken, still hovering by the control panel, watched expectantly as the first cloud emerged from the top of the machine and threatened Kim Possible.

Shego, meanwhile, had jumped onto the top of the tank of Super High Pollinator formula, and was preparing to make the leap from there to the top of the machine, when she heard the familiar _whirr_ of a hairdryer. She looked up in confusion, just in time to see the cloud drift over the side of the machine and come to a stop directly above her head.

Before she could think, something wrapped around her waist and yanked her from the top of the tank—just a split second before the cloud opened up.

She stared in surprise at the spot where she'd just been standing as a mass of flowering vines sprang up from the bright green rain puddle. Then she looked down at the vine wrapped around her middle. She turned to find a frightened-looking Drakken standing there beside her. "Are you all right?" he asked, as his vine gently released her.

She nodded dumbly as he wrapped her in his arms instead.

—

Kim holstered the hairdryer and pulled herself to her feet, staring at the spout from which the cloud had emerged. The machine was still chugging away beneath her, no doubt ready to churn out another cloud any second. She looked at the Jade Monkey again and sighed. _Mr. McCorkle isn't going to like this._

Without giving herself any more time to think about it, she grabbed the statue, lifted it up over her head, and then plunged it down into the hole.

Ron had been right—it was a perfect fit. Only the grinning face of the monkey remained visible, jutting out of the spout. Within seconds, the machine began to groan and rumble beneath her feet. Kim ran to the edge and jumped off, doing a triple flip in the air to land beside Ron once more. They both turned and stared at the machine as its sides slowly began to bulge from the building pressure.

"Time to go?" Ron said.

Kim nodded. "Time to go." She grabbed his hand, and they both ran for the door as fast as their legs would take them.

—

As she watched their escape, Shego mirrored Kim, grabbing Drakken's hand and tugging him toward the exit. "Come on, Dr. D, we'd better get out of here, too."

But Drakken dug in his heels and yanked his hand from her grasp. "No!" he cried, staring wild-eyed at the Ultra Weather Generator. "We're not done! I can fix it! I can—"

"Drew!"

His eyes snapped up to meet Shego's. She held her hand out toward him, just a hint of pleading in her voice as she said, "It's not worth dying for."

Drakken stared at her for several long seconds before finally his shoulders slumped and his gaze fell to the ground—and he reached out and took her hand and let her drag him from the room.

* * *

><p>Kim and Ron had just reached the beach when they heard the <em>kaboom! <em>of the explosion behind them. A second later, the force of the blast knocked them both flat in the sand.

Before they'd had time to recover, they both heard another sound—the whistle of something falling from a great height. They both looked up just in time to see a dark, cylindrical object flying through the air, and all they could do was cover their heads as it landed just a few feet in front of them, throwing up a wave of sand.

After a minute, once it seemed safe to assume that no more flying debris was headed their way, they both uncovered their faces and blinked at the sight of what had almost hit them. "Oh good," Ron said sarcastically, "it's okay." Kim could only laugh.

There sat the Jade Monkey statue, without even the slightest chip or crack in its smooth black surface.

As they stood up and brushed the sand from their clothes, Ron glanced back at the lair. "Do you think _they_ made it out okay?"

"Of course," Kim said, sounding less confident than she was trying to be as she followed his gaze to the dark smoke now pouring from some of the lair windows. "They always do."

As if her words had been a cue, suddenly they saw the silver glint of the hovercraft come flying through the smoke.

"You think you're all that, Kim Possible," Drakken bellowed down at them, "but you're not!"

"You know," Ron said as he watched the hovercraft fly off toward the setting sun, "I've kind of missed hearing that." Kim giggled as he turned his gaze to her. "But just for the record, you _are_ 'all that.'"

"Thanks, Ron. You too—Mystical Monkey Power or no Mystical Monkey Power."

"Ayep." He puffed out his chest. "Nobody does distractin' like the Ron-man."

Kim gave him a sly smile. "Well, _I_ could use a little distractin', Ron-man," she said, leaning in for a kiss. But Ron stopped her with a finger placed gently against her lips. She looked up at him questioningly.

Ron stared back at her, eyes shining with unmasked affection. "First, uh, since the mission's over—and I have my pants back—I guess I should do this right."

He fell down onto one knee in the sand, pulled the little velvet box out of his pocket and flipped it open. But before he could say anything, Kim knelt down in front of him and put a finger to _his_ lips, shaking her head with a soft smile. "You did it right the first time, Ron."

Ron stared back at her as she lowered her finger. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." She nodded, grinning as she leaned forward to rest her forehead against his. "It was weird... but I liked it."

Ron couldn't think of anything to do but grin right back as he took her hand and slipped the ring onto her finger. Neither was surprised to find it was a perfect fit.

_To be concluded..._


	14. Epilogue

_Disclaimer: The House of Mouse owns them. We keep them alive. Who owes who? (Just kidding, Disney lawyers, please don't sue me.)_

**Epilogue**

Shego steered the hovercraft toward the western horizon with practiced ease. _At least I never lost my touch with this thing_, she thought with a grin. Maybe she would suggest to Drew that they hang onto it instead of putting it back into storage. It would sure make buying groceries and picking up drycleaning more fun.

She sighed a little at that thought. Back to normal life. Back to being good—well, neutral, anyway. It wasn't that _she_ wanted to stick with a life of villainy. A week of wearing her old jumpsuits and pottering around the lair again had been enough to convince her that wasn't the life she wanted anymore. The only fun thing about it had been going up against the Princess again, and if she was really honest with herself, even that had lost some of its old appeal. She'd only gone along with the idea in the first place because it seemed to be what Dr. D wanted, and, she realized, she wanted to be by his side no matter what he was doing—taking over the world or taking out the trash. To her surprise, she found herself far preferring the latter.

The only problem was, she had more than her own feelings to consider on the matter.

She chanced a glance over at Drakken. He looked absolutely miserable. Slumped down in his seat, arms folded across his chest, studiously avoiding her gaze. The setting sun was filling the sky ahead of them with streaks of pink and purple. It was beautiful, but he wasn't enjoying it, so neither was she. Shego sighed. Caring about another person could be so… annoying.

"Hey," she said, nudging him with her elbow. "No big deal, right? We gave it one last old school try, and it didn't work out. We just weren't meant for the taking over the world thing."

Drakken finally turned to look at her. "_I_ wasn't cut out for taking over the world," he said woefully. "_You're_ brilliant at being a villain. You always have been, and I just—"

Shego frowned. "You just what?"

"I just wanted to prove that I could do it," he blurted out. "So I wouldn't always be a disappointment to you."

Shego sighed and shook her head. Maybe the Buffoon was right—they did need to see a relationship counselor. "Look," she said—a little too snappishly. She softened her voice and continued, "You're not a disappointment to me."

Drakken looked up at her again. "But… I never succeeded in taking over the world. Not once! And—"

"Oh, for Pete's sake!" Shego cried, throwing up her hands. "I don't care about taking over the world! I was only ever in the taking-over-the-world game because _you_ were, and you were the one offering the best pay. If I'd really been interested in actually taking over the world, I would have gone and worked for Dementor or something."

She regretted that last statement as soon as it had left her mouth, but what could she say? It was true; she'd never really had much hope of Drakken succeeding, and she hadn't much cared. All she'd wanted back when she'd first joined up with him was a steady paycheck and the chance for a little excitement. Admittedly, the paychecks hadn't always been steady, but Drakken had always managed to make up for it eventually. And as for excitement, it had never been in short supply.

Drakken's expression darkened, as she'd expected, but to Shego's surprise, he focused in on something other than her mention of his rival in evil. "That's the only reason you were with me?" he asked plaintively. "The pay?"

Shego stared back at him for a long moment. She could lie… but it seemed like lying—or at least, keeping quiet about the truth—had gotten them into enough trouble already. "At first, yes," she said, sighing as she saw his expression fall further. "But need I remind you, you never offered to pay me for this latest gig?"

Drakken looked puzzled now—and disappointed. "So you _were _in it for the evil."

Shego rolled her eyes again. "No, you idiot!" she growled, knocking on his head as if to see if it was hollow. "I was in it for _you_! Because you wanted to do it. Because it seemed like it was making you happy! Because, God help me, I don't know why, but I love you!"

Drakken stared at her, mouth agape. Annoyed, Shego finally reached over and nudged it shut. "You'll catch flies like that," she said. "Especially going at this speed."

She started to pull her hand back, but Drakken's own hand shot out and grabbed it. "Shego," he said wonderingly, "you just—did you say…? You l-lo—"

"I love you, yes," she snapped again. "What's the big deal? You're acting like I've never said it before."

"You haven't," Drakken replied, and Shego opened her mouth to fire back again, but stopped short. She must have said it before… right? But looking back over the last three years, all the time they'd been together after the Lorwardian invasion and their slow acceptance that they meant more to each other than mere colleagues or even friends… she _couldn't_ remember ever saying those words.

"I'm sorry," she said, and Drakken looked almost as shocked to hear those words from her as the other three. "Of course I—" She faltered. Why was it so hard to say now that she'd taken the time to stop and think about it? Why did everything come easy for her _except_ the words? "I love you."

"I love you, too, Shego," Drakken murmured back, smiling for the first time since they'd made their escape from the collapsing lair. He made it sound so easy, and suddenly, for some reason, her heart was in her throat.

They grew quiet after that, and she turned her attention back to the empty sky ahead. But their hands stayed joined between them, and… it felt nice.

"Shego," Drakken said after a few minutes.

She turned to look at him again. "Yes?"

He let go of her hand and tapped his fingers together nervously. "I wasn't happy because we were trying to take over the world, you know."

"Could have fooled me," she said. "You seemed pretty happy."

Drakken shook his head. "I _was_ happy. But I was happy because I thought what I was doing would make _you_ happy. I thought it was what you wanted."

Shego sighed. "We really do have communication problems. I told you I don't—"

"I know that _now_," he said. "But _before_—I was only doing it because I wanted to make you happy. And… because I wanted to prove to you that I could make you happy for the rest of our lives," he added softly. "I was planning on doing this when we celebrated our triumph, but, well…" He reached into his lab coat's pocket and pulled out a little black velvet box.

It was Shego's turn to gape as Drakken struggled to get down on one knee in the confined space of the hovercraft and flipped the little box open.

"Shego," he said, grinning up at her, "I guess you're right that we've been having problems with communication lately… but hopefully it's clear what I'd like to ask you."

Shego looked back and forth between him and the ring several times before the question really did sink in, and then a smile spread slowly across her face. There was only one way to answer. She leapt across the hovercraft's console and tackled Drakken to the floor, planting a kiss on him that he would not soon forget.

With the sudden shift in weight distribution and the sudden loss of its pilot, the hovercraft lilted wildly to the right, but at the moment, neither of the former villains cared one bit.

* * *

><p>To Ron and Kim sitting down on the beach, the hovercraft was now just a distant speck, but they still couldn't miss when that speck swerved wildly before righting itself again.<p>

"What was that?" Ron said.

Kim smiled mysteriously. "I have a feeling Shego finally got what she really wanted," she said.

Ron stared at his girlfriend—no, fiancé!—puzzled. He was about to open his mouth to comment, but Kim silenced his question with a kiss, and all thoughts of Drakken and Shego and whatever might be happening on that hovercraft instantly evaporated.

"Guess we should call for a ride of our own," Kim said as she sat back.

Ron sighed. "Yeah, guess so."

Kim gave him a conciliatory kiss on the cheek as she pulled the Kimmunicator out of her pocket. She hit the button to connect to Wade… but nothing happened.

Kim hit the button again and stared at the still blank screen. "Oh, don't tell me Shego fried this or something…"

"Well," Ron said, "it does sound like something Shego would do—leave us with one last little parting—" But before he could finish, the screen finally blinked on.

"Hey guys," Wade said. "Mission complete?"

"Yep," Kim answered with a smile. "Could you let Mr. McCorkle know we've got a Black Jade Monkey to return to him, and find us a ride home?"

"Sure thing," Wade said, already typing. "By the way, sorry if you had a bit of a delay getting through to me."

"Yeah, what was up with that?" Ron asked. "Was your system down or something?"

"My system doesn't _go_ down," Wade replied, a bit of an edge to his voice. Then he grinned. "But if anything could do it, it would be this flood of congratulations letters we've been getting through your site."

"_Flood_ of congratulations?" Kim raised an eyebrow and looked over at Ron. "Ron, just how many people knew you were proposing?"

"Not that many!" he answered defensively. "Um, you know, your family and mine, Monique, Wade… uh, and I guess the jeweler I bought the ring from probably guessed, but that's—"

"And everyone who was at that Middleton Mud Hens game…" Wade interrupted. "And everyone who watched the game on TV… and everyone who saw that clip from the game after it was posted on WeTube…"

"Thanks, Wade," Ron muttered.

Kim's eyes slid back and forth between the two young men. "So basically what you're telling me is I'm the last person in the world to know about my own engagement?"

"N-no, I'm sure you're not the _last_ person," Ron said insistently. "What about, uh… the Amish? I'm sure the Amish haven't heard about it yet!"

Kim was silent, which Ron took as a bad sign. A very bad sign. When he finally screwed up the courage to look over at her, though, he saw that she was… laughing? When she looked up and saw him watching her in confusion, she just leaned against his shoulder and continued to shake with mirth. "Maybe," she finally managed to squeak out between giggles, "maybe we should ask our ride if they can drop us off in Pennsylvania Dutch country so we can spread the word."

Ron just blinked at her. "So you're… not mad?"

Kim sat up enough to look him in the eyes, as she wiped tears of laughter from her own. She shook her head and smiled fondly at him. "No," she said, leaning closer to brush her lips against his. "I'm just glad you finally let me in on the joke."

Ron's grin lit up the darkening beach. "Yeah, me too."

He leaned in for another kiss, but was interrupted by a loud cough from the Kimmunicator. Both he and Kim turned their attentions back to the screen, their expressions half apologetic and half frustrated. "Sorry, Wade," Kim said.

"No problem. So… I've found you a ride, but it might be about an hour before they can make it to your location." He offered them both a little grin. "Think you can handle the wait?"

Kim smiled back. "I'm sure we can find some way to fill the time, Wade. Thanks."

"You got it." Wade started to reach over to sever the connection, but he was interrupted by Ron.

"Hey, Wade?"

"Yeah?"

"You rock, buddy."

Wade chuckled. "Thanks. And I almost forgot! Congratulations to both of you!" Before they could thank him again, he hit a button and the screen went black, leaving them blissfully alone once more.

The newly engaged couple just sat there for a minute, gazing into each other's eyes. It was Kim who finally broke the peaceful silence.

"Well, that just leaves us with one big question."

Ron's brow wrinkled in confusion. "What's that?"

Kim grinned slyly. "Do we invite Drakken and Shego to the wedding?"

Ron's eyes went wide. A second later Kim began laughing again—and this time he joined right in. Still giggling and holding each other, they fell back onto the sand together. And long after their mirth had subsided, they lay there in each other's arms, watching their own private fireworks show: the purples and pinks of the sunset fading into black, and the stars appearing one by one.

**The End**

* * *

><p><em>Exactly one year from the day I started writing this story seemed a fitting time to bring it to an end. Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed over these last several months; I've treasured your encouragement and support. I came to this site because I had stories in me that wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote them down—this being one of them—but a large part of why I've stayed is the great community I found. I hope you've all enjoyed reading <em>A Ronmantic Proposal_ as much as I have enjoyed getting to share it with you._

_And to my friend and beta reader Slipgate, I have only one thing left to say: You rock._**  
><strong>


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